About Us » Thought Leaders
As a leader in health and productivity solutions, UPMC WorkPartners is proud to employ in-house experts — experts who think and work innovatively. Our leaders share their expertise to provide comprehensive solutions that help to control organizational costs and improve employee productivity.
David Weir, CSP, ARM
David Weir oversees UPMC WorkPartners’ comprehensive suite of innovative programs, consulting, and technology. These services have decreased health-related costs and increased employee productivity for many of the area’s largest employers.
Mr. Weir has more than 30 years of disability/risk management and health and wellness-related experience. He started at UPMC WorkPartners in 1997 as a workers’ compensation TPA for UPMC and several other large entities in Pittsburgh. Observing market demand and unmet needs, Mr. Weir expanded WorkPartners to include disability, population health management, and many other programs. WorkPartners now manages more than 450 clients.
He was also previously vice president of Network Development and Claim Services for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and assistant vice president for the brokerage firm of Sedgwick James.
Mr. Weir earned his bachelor’s degree in health and safety from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and a designated Associate in Risk Management (ARM).
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Sandra Caffo, LCSW, MFT, CEAP
Sandra Caffo has more than 25 years of experience in delivering employee assistance program (EAP) services and providing management and organization consultation to corporations, academic institutions, and non-profits. She has focused on providing effective change management systems and encouraging leadership development through executive coaching, as well as addressing challenging workplace issues such as burnout and staff engagement.
As senior director of LifeSolutions, Ms. Caffo leads a staff that delivers employee assistance program (EAP) services to more than 200 employer groups. Ms. Caffo provides leadership coaching and organization consultation for the company’s diverse set of clients.
Ms. Caffo has presented at EAPA, the employee assistance program field’s annual international conference; authored an article on ethics for an international journal; and written articles for Smart Magazine, including how an EAP supports successful leadership and addressing partner violence — a hidden cost to the workplace.
She earned her master’s in social work at Wayne State University and her bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Dayton. She is licensed in both social work and marriage and family therapy and is a certified employee assistance professional (CEAP).
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Tim Cline
Tim Cline is responsible for the development and maintenance of the scientific integrity of a suite of behavioral intervention programs. These programs enable UPMC Health Plan members to make and sustain significant lifestyle improvements in areas such as weight management, tobacco cessation, physical activity, nutrition, and stress management. He also has lead responsibility for coaching skills training, supervision, and clinical quality assurance for the plan’s cadre of health coaches.
Dr. Cline holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and a bachelor’s degree in biology. He completed a medical school-based residency and fellowship program in behavioral medicine/health psychology and has held faculty positions in three medical schools, where he conducted research and provided clinical services in a variety of specialties. Dr. Cline is also a graduate of Coach University and holds the highest credential conferred in the coaching industry, the Master Certified Coach.
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Melissa Dunn
Melissa Dunn oversees business development for UPMC WorkPartners and is responsible for coordinating the delivery of UPMC WorkPartners’ health and productivity solutions to clients, developing marketplace strategies, and developing new solutions for health and productivity.
Ms. Dunn previously worked for Marsh, a global insurance brokerage firm. She held numerous roles, including client relationship officer, responsible for coordinating the delivery of all Marsh resources for her clients. She mostly worked with middle market and upper-middle market clients in the retail, energy — specifically Marcellus Shale, manufacturing, transportation, professional services, financial institutions, construction, and real estate industries.
She also spent more than six years as vice president and Midwest regional marketing manager for Marsh. She led a highly effective team and was responsible for developing and implementing strategic marketing initiatives for industry and risk practices as well as local geographies across the Midwest zone. While at Marsh, Ms. Dunn also served as an adjunct professor in marketing at La Roche College. She joined Marsh from a position at United States Steel Corporation.
Leonard Eisenbeis
Leonard Eisenbeis is responsible for the development, coordination, and oversight of all operational and organizational aspects of the Work Partners Clinic Health Operations including, but not limited to, UPMC employee health, MyHealth@Work on-site health centers, retail clinic program development, and mobile health programs.
Len joined the organization in 1989 as Department Head, Center for Occupational Health at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital (now UPMC St. Margaret) and has held a number of positions including Vice President of Clinical Operations, and Director of Operations at the University of Pittsburgh Physicians Heart Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute. His extensive experience in program development from concept to final delivery has been an invaluable resource to the organization
Len received his undergraduate degree at Gettysburg College and attained his graduate degree at Indiana University. He maintains active involvement in his community and church, and enjoys multiple sports including golf, running, and swimming. Additionally, Len is a proud supporter of the United Way and the Special Olympics. He is married and has three children.
Michael D. Parkinson, MD, MPH, FACPM
Dr. Michael Parkinson oversees the health and productivity strategy for both UPMC Health Plan and UPMC WorkPartners and has spent his career advising on public health, preventive medicine, and consumer-driven health plans.
Dr. Parkinson is the immediate past president of the American College of Preventive Medicine. He was also the Executive Vice President and Chief Health and Medical Officer of Lumenos, a pioneer of consumer-driven health plans and a subsidiary of Wellpoint. A retired Air Force colonel, his final assignment was as associate director of medical programs and resources in the Office of the Surgeon General. He served on the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Purchasing Institute, was the vice chair of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, and was a member of the Residency Review Committee. He is a member of the editorial boards of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the American Journal of Medical Quality.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, his MD from George Washington University, completed his family practice training at UCLA, and earned his MPH, preventive medicine residency, and chief residency at Johns Hopkins.
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Linda Croushore, MEd, CRC, LPC
Linda Croushore has more than 15 years of progressive experience in workers’ compensation, short-term disability, FMLA/employer-sponsored leave programs, transitional return-to-work programs, consultation/support for FMLA/ADA accommodation issues, and clinical case management for various employers.
Prior to joining the UPMC WorkPartners team, Ms. Croushore worked in private rehabilitation and mental health counseling and also worked with the juvenile correction system in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Croushore earned her master’s degree in education in rehabilitation counseling at the University of Pittsburgh and her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Saint Vincent College.
Annette Kolski-Andreaco, LSW, MSW, MURP
As the manager of Account Services, Annette Kolski-Andreaco is in charge of account management services, marshaling LifeSolutions’ resources on behalf of customer companies and including the coordination of consultation services for managers at all levels and for organizations. She also coordinates training for LifeSolutions. Her areas of expertise are in executive leadership, coaching, and the field of social intelligence.
Prior to LifeSolutions, Ms. Kolski-Andreaco led organizations as both an executive director and senior manager in the health care and human relations fields for more than 25 years. During that time, she was also a management and organizational consultant for nonprofits, family businesses, and the service industry. She has presented papers at national conferences on EAP account management and consultation using systems theory, published articles on social intelligence in Smart Business Pittsburgh and other business publications, and contributed a chapter to the book Bringing Systems Thinking to Life (2011).
Ms. Kolski-Andreaco earned master’s degrees in both social work and urban and regional planning from the University of Pittsburgh. She has also completed post-graduate study in family systems theory and therapy.
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Karen L. Merrick, LSW, ACSW
Karen Merrick coordinates a team of account managers to work with all the UPMC business units in promoting LifeSolutions services, providing manager/supervisor training and consultation, and preparing utilization reports.
She has more than 20 years of experience in the employee assistance field, including account management, clinical counseling services, and management training. She was previously the director of the employee assistance program at a medical center in Erie.
Ms. Merrick earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. She also has extensive training in cognitive behavioral therapy and critical incident stress debriefing.
Debra Messer, MA, CEAP
Debra Messer developed her expertise in the area of civility in the workplace while working for LifeSolutions and is now the organization’s workplace civility consultant. She created a process for implementing an overall civility initiative aimed at shifting workplace culture, and she serves as the key civility consultant for VAPHS (Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare Services). Ms. Messer has worked in the fields of employee assistance and training and development for more than 20 years. With a focus on supporting and empowering management, she has coached leadership, managers, and supervisors to retain, engage, and motivate employees through the practice of a management style inspired by respect, kindness, and civility. Areas of training expertise include: Stress Management, Conflict Resolution, Team Building, Management Development, Transition to Management, and Generational Differences.
An active member of the Just Culture training initiative at UPMC, Ms. Messer has participated in this national model to shift the workplace culture from one of punitive reactions to one that responds justly and fairly to addressing employee errors in providing care. She provides conflict resolution coaching and consultation to managers seeking to shift adversarial relationships with employees to relationships that embody partnership and respect.
Ms. Messer has presented nationally at both the 2010 and 2011 World Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) conferences and was the keynote speaker in April 2011 at the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) International Conference. She authored a seven-part series of articles on Workplace Bullying and Civility, and she was showcased in LifeSolutions’ The Successful Supervisor newsletter that is distributed to the leadership of all LifeSolutions customers.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Catawba College and her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Middle Tennessee State University.
Susan E. Stocker, M.Ed.
Ms. Stocker is currently a Sales Executive with WorkPartners and has been an employee of UPMC since 1992. She has a diverse background in education, neurological and vocational rehabilitation case management, Occupational Health, marketing and sales. Ms. Stocker obtained her undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock University and holds a master's degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Pittsburgh.