Chronic Pain Program (CPP) Staff
Kathy McKenzie, RN, BS
Kathy McKenzie joined the MAPS staff in July 2000. She is the Director of MAPS Chronic Pain Program. Throughout her nursing career her focus has mainly been in the management of chronic pain both in hospital and clinic settings. She has presented nationally and locally in pain management and co author “Effectiveness of a Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Program for Treatment of Refractory Patients with Complicated Chronic Pain Syndrome.” Kathy is currently seeing patients in the Chronic Pain Program at our Edina and Maple Grove clinic locations.
Ben Lexau, Psy.D., LP
Dr. Lexau completed his masters degree in Cognitive and Biological psychology at the University of Minnesota and his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology. He completed an internship in clinical psychology and health psychology at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Lexau went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the VA Medical Center with focused training on health psychology. Dr. Lexau has worked at the Allina medical clinic in Hastings, Minnesota and has worked at MAPS Medical Pain Clinics since 2002. Dr. Lexau treats individuals who cope with persistent pain and problems that can frequently occur with pain: depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and harmful health behaviors such as smoking or lack of exercise. In his free time, Dr. Lexau enjoys spending time with his wife and three active children. He enjoys playing guitar, running, reading mysteries and slowly restoring his old house.
Paul Heideman, PhD., LP
Dr. Heideman completed his graduate training in clinical psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He began specializing in health psychology during his internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. A native Minnesotan, he and his family moved back to the Twin Cities where he completed residency training at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center before joining
Marge Bigelow, RN
Marge has been actively working as a Registered Nurse for more than 40 years. Of those years, she has been in the Chronic Pain field for the past 20 years. She has also worked in OB/GYN and Labor and Delivery for 13 years in both clinic and hospital settings as well as in the Mental Health and Chemical Dependency field, in both in-patient and out-patient settings. At MAPS, Marge has worked for the last several years as the Manager of Case Management Department in addition to working as a staff RN in the Chronic Pain Program. Marge currently sees patients in the Chronic Pain Program at our Maple Grove clinic location.
Christa Jensen, CNP
Christa Jensen, CNP joined the MAPS staff in July 2004. She is a Certified Nurse Practitioner and earned her Masters degree in Nursing at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ms. Jensen is also the Nurse Practitioner/Physicians Assistant Division Manager for the MAPS clinic. Prior to starting at MAPS, she worked in a Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) in western South Dakota. Christa is the manager of the Nurse Practitoners and Physician Assistants at our Maple Grove clinic and is currently seeing patients exclusively at this location.
Mary Esslinger, CNP
Mary Esslinger joined the MAPS staff in 2004. She is board certified as an adult nurse practitioner as well as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Mary obtained her Masters degree and pediatric nurse practitioner certification from the College of St. Catherine in 1993. She received her adult nurse practitioner certification after graduating from the College of St. Catherine in 2004. Mary is involved in MAPS Chronic Pain Program and sees patients exclusively at our Edina office.
Christine O'Hotto, LPT
Christine O'Hotto, LPT joined the MAPS staff in 2000, and took on the role of Rehabilitation Director in 2006. Christine earned her Physical Therapy Degree from UW-Madison in 1990 and has been working in outpatient physical therapy with emphasis on orthopedics and manual therapy, spinal pain, headaches and chronic pain since 1991. Christine currently sees patients at our Edina clinic location.
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