Hektoen Infection Prevention Consultants

Deb Patterson Burdsall, Ph.D., RN-BC, CIC, LTC-CIP, FAPIC

Deb Burdsall has worked in long-term care since 1974. She started as a nurse’s aide, and has worked as a staff nurse, nursing supervisor, interim director of healthcare services, MDS/care plan coordinator, wound nurse, quality assurance coordinator, and clinical in-service coordinator. Deb is board certified in infection prevention and control (CIC), and ANCC certified in gerontological nursing. She is on the Board of Directors and is a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Deb has a BA in psychology with a minor in biology from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and a diploma in nursing from The Evanston Hospital School of Nursing. Deb received her MSN and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa College of Nursing. Her doctoral dissertation involved examining how healthcare personnel use gloves when caring for patients including testing the reliability of a glove-use surveillance tool.

Deb has been working with Hektoen Institute and The Illinois Department of Public Health working with congregate care settings in Illinois. She works to find evidence-based, cost-effective infection prevention strategies for long-term care.

Contact: Deborah.Burdsall@hektoen.org

Karen Trimberger, RN, MPH, NE-BC, CIC, LTC-CIP

Karen Trimberger is a registered nurse with 39 years of clinical, infection prevention, and public health experience. She earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Illinois in Springfield and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Millikin University. Karen is certified in infection control (CIC) by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (CBIC) and as a nurse executive through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association. She is a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC). She has participated in state health department workgroups, national APIC, and local APIC chapters for several years.

Karen’s professional experiences include infection prevention and control, emergency preparedness and response, and administration and management, primarily in acute care settings. Karen is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and has been active in process and quality improvement projects. For the last six years, Karen has been partnering with facility infection preventionists to assess infection prevention programs, identify focus areas, provide resources, and offer ongoing consultation utilizing the Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) tool developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This work has been with all types of healthcare settings across the continuum of care, with most of this work being in long-term care.

Currently, Karen is an infection prevention consultant grantee with the Hektoen Institute and the Illinois Department of Public Health, assisting Illinois healthcare facilities in implementing best practices for infection prevention and control, emphasizing facilities deemed at high risk for acquiring antibiotic-resistant organisms.

Contact: Karen.Trimberger@hektoen.org

Mary Alice Lavin, MJ, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Mary Alice Lavin, MJ, BSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC is currently a consultant with the Hektoen Institute of Medicine supporting healthcare facilities in the prevention and control of multi-drug resistant organisms as a grantee to the Illinois Department of Public Health. With more than 37 years of experience in infection prevention and control, she has worked in a variety of settings leading and supporting efforts to reduce the risk for infection and create a safe environment of care. Locally, Mary Alice has served the APIC-Chicago chapter as nominating committee chair, president, and chapter legislative representative. She is a member of the Illinois Healthcare-Associated Infection/Antimicrobial Resistance Prevention Advisory Committee. Nationally, she is a member of the Detection and Reporting Workgroup of the Council for Outbreak Response: Healthcare-Associated Infections & Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens (CORHA). Mary Alice served seven years on the APIC Public Policy Committee including two years as the chair and continues to support the Public Policy Committee as a member of the Regulatory Review Panel. She has presented locally and nationally on topics including infection control aspects of construction/renovation, long-term care, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, influenza, Candida auris, and regulatory issues. Mary Alice graduated from Marquette University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a Master of Jurisprudence in Health Law. A member of APIC since 1983, she has been certified in infection control since 1984 and became a fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology in 2016. Mary Alice received the APIC Chapter Leadership Award in 2011.

Contact: MaryAlice.Lavin@hektoen.org