Our Doctors
We are proud of our family at Echo Hollow. We take patient care very seriously and we want you to know your pet is in good hands. Between our our doctors we have over 75 years of experience.
Dr. DuWayne Penfold, Owner
In 1970, Dr. Penfold graduated from Michigan State University and moved his family to Eugene to start his career as a veterinarian. Since then, he has seen the community grow and change in many ways, but has maintained a philosophy of compassion and service to pets in need. He has given his time as President of the Lane County Veterinary Medical Association and the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, and as State Delegate to the American Veterinary Medical Association. There was even a time in the ’80’s, when he traveled to Salem to help save Oregon State University’s veterinary school whose funding had been cut from the state budget. There are many veterinarians in our area that have been mentored and continue to be mentored by Dr. Penfold.
Dr. Bruce Behrends, Owner
Dr. Behrends grew up in Oregon and attended school in Oregon. After graduating from Oregon State University he never thought twice about living anywhere else. He started his career working at Veneta Veterinary Hospital back when they saw ‘all creatures, great and small’. After practicing at Veneta Veterinary Hospital for seven years, he became an owner. If you catch him on a slow day, he has some great stories to tell about those “middle of the night farm calls”. Over the years he has shifted his focus to small animals and creating a veterinary hospital that serves the needs of our community. Like Dr. Penfold he has and continues to mentor new veterinarians.
Dr. Ryan Frome, Owner
Dr. Frome is a born-and-raised Oregonian. He attended veterinary school at Oregon State University and after graduation moved to the east coast to experience something new. Dr. Frome and his wife are both veterinarians and they spent a few years living and practicing veterinary medicine in Eastern Pennsylvania. While they enjoyed living close to the history, culture and diversity of the east coast, they both decided they wanted to move back to Oregon where they could “think of rhubarb instead of roses and laying hens in the backyard.” In 2008 Dr. Frome joined the family and started working at Veneta Veterinary Hospital. Shortly after joining the family he became an owner with Dr. Penfold and Dr. Behrends. Dr. Frome also places emphasis on working with and mentoring new veterinarians.
Dr. Elizabeth Hoffmann, Associate
Dr. Hoffmann completed her undergraduate work at Oregon State University and received her veterinary degree from Washington State University with the intention of going into equine medicine. Upon graduation she married her husband Andy, a fisheries biologist, and moved to Alaska (where there are a lot of fish but not many horses). Dr. Hoffmann became a small animal veterinarian and a mother of 3 children. In 2004 her family relocated to Oregon to escape the 8 months of winter and to have the opportunity to pursue her equine interests. Both Dr. Hoffmann and her train and compete in the equine discipline of eventing.
Dr. Hoffmann’s other passion is Christian Veterinary Missions. She has gone on a number of short-term mission trips and currently makes regular trips to Uganda, Africa and some native Eskimo communities in Alaska.
Dr. Hoffmann has been with us since 2006.
Dr. Michelle Kenna, Associate
Dr. Michelle Kenna was born and raised in Southern California. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, she realized that her true professional passion was for medicine and animals. She started veterinary school at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. After completing a semester there, she transferred to Ross University in St. Kitts Florida. She then went on to complete her clinical year at Texas A&M. She received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in January 2007.
Dr. Kenna has practiced veterinary medicine in the Eugene and Cottage Grove areas for the past 12 years. She enjoys working with clients and their pets. In her free time, Dr. Kenna loves to hike, run, kayak and spend time with her family including her 2 Labradors.
Dr. Kenna has been with us since February 2019.
Dr. Maggiulli has been with us since 2014.
Dr. Paul Schiffgens, Associate
Dr. Schiffgens has been working with us since his graduation from Oregon State College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. Having grown up in Maryland, he moved here in 1996 to attend the University of Oregon where he received his bachelor degree in International and Environmental Studies. He fell in love with the area and has called it home ever since. After undergraduate school Dr. Schiffgens worked for several seasons on local organic farms before setting his sights on Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Schiffgens, with his wife and children share their house and property with three cats and one Australian shepherd. Dr. Paul hasn’t stopped caring for large animals all together; he continues to do so by caring for his family’s small flock of Gotland sheep. He and his family also tend to an ever changing assortment of fowl and small mammals.
When not working, Paul can also be found in his garden, tending to one chore or another, or otherwise knee deep in a project or activity with his family.
Dr. Schiffgens has been with us since 2012.
Dr. Heather Renèe Srch-Thaden, Associate
Dr. Srch-Thaden is a true Oregonian. She was raised in the Klamath Basin where she enjoyed watersports, became a nationally ranked figure skater, and participated in a multitude of 4-H projects. Life as a military wife took her around the world including Japan, Europe, and Australia. She studied Marine Biology at UNC-Wilmington and was a professional aquarist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
She returned home to earn her DVM from Oregon State University and her research has contributed to many aquatic animal health programs including beach renourishment in the Carolinas, restoration of Oyster Reef Habitats, and created a blood test for Sea Star Wasting Syndrome in the Pacific Northwest.
Dr. Srch-Thaden’s interests outside of medicine include showing dogs, dance, and traveling. She also enjoys many water sports of the liquid and frozen variety, including scuba diving, surfing, wakeboarding, kayaking, and snowboarding, as well as spending quality time with her family and friends.
Dr. Srch-Thaden has been with us since 2018
Dr. Lindsay Urquhart, Associate
Dr. Urquhart is originally from Massachusetts and Maine but he has fully defected to the Pacific Northwest. He spent time over the years in a wide variety of pursuits: from landscaping and maintenance to sailing the Atlantic Ocean, then building wooden boats and researching algae biofuels and genetics. Ultimately, he decided to pursue career a where he could spend his time helping individuals and work with his hands as well as his mind. He graduated from the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine and has been treating small animals ever since.
Dr. Urquhart’s interests outside of medicine have usually taken him off the paved road. During college, he helped children to develop a love and respect for the outdoors by taking them on week-long sailing and backpacking adventures. To this day you can often find him on his days off hiking, surfing, or backcountry skiing with his dog and girlfriend. His other interests include taekwondo, international travel, and attempting to fix anything that is broken around his home.
Dr. Urquhart has been with the practice since 2017.