April 18, 2024
Leslie Eber, MD, CMD, was in the throes of helping to plan the Colorado Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (CMDA) Annual Conference as she jumped into her role as AMDA’s 2024-2025 vice president. This may sound overwhelming, but not for her. She was raised to be a volunteer leader. “I saw my parents volunteering and getting so much satisfaction from it. My mother always told me never to turn down an opportunity to help someone or do an act of kindness. That is how I’ve lived my life,” she says, adding that she’s also had great mentors in AMDA who have inspired and empowered her. She now hopes to pay this forward to others.
As she begins her work as vice president, she says, “I really want to ensure that we ground ourselves in the opportunities we have and the honor of caring for our residents. I think that when we have that foundation of honor and gratitude, then we can build on that.” She adds, “I want to make sure we have an organization that builds on collaboration and where we lift each other up and support each other. I want to help ensure AMDA continues to grow in that way and that interdisciplinary team members can come for education, communication, community, and collaboration.” She stresses how important it is for practitioners such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants to know that this is their professionalhome and that we are all partners in care.
Dr. Eber has provided medical directorships for long-term care facilities and hospice and is the medical director for multiple facilities as a part of Rocky Mountain Senior Care in Denver, CO. She also serves as the chief faculty for Abode Care Partners. During the pandemic, she provided expertise for several national initiatives such as the Colorado AHRQ ECHO National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network, and presented for the ECHO COVID-19 Global Conversations: Vaccine Development, Distribution and Delivery. Elsewhere, through her dedicated work with the Colorado Dementia Partnership, Dr. Eber has helped develop many tools to help care for patients with dementia.
An AMDA member since 2008, Dr. Eber has served as a state presidents council representative and secretary. She is a clinical advisor for Moving Needles, the 5-year cooperative agreement between AMDA and the CDC. In 2021, Dr. Eber received the AMDA Medical Director of the Year award. She has represented AMDA as part of its AMA Delegation since 2021. Dr. Eber also served as president of CMDA from 2016 to 2021; and she continues her work on the CMDA executive board as immediate past president.
Like so many of her colleagues, Dr. Eber is grateful for and proud of having the Certified Medical Director (CMD) certification. She says, “I became a CMD somewhat later in my career, as I had already been a medical director for about 10 years. I wasn't sure if it would really add to my knowledge, but I was blown away. It is the single best thing I've ever done in my career, hands down.” She notes that one of her teachers was Dr. Robert Kaplan, who passed away recently: “He was a hero of mine. He really changed my perspective and gave me a depth and breadth of knowledge about medical directorship that I use to this day.”
Dr. Eber has a dream and goal of spreading the joy of PALTC practice with students and young practitioners. She says, “I think if they could see my experience—the fact that I get to dance with my patients and talk, laugh, and have fun with the nurses and CNAs in my facilities, they would see what a wonderful field of practice this is. I feel like I'm the luckiest woman on earth.”