Heidi Harrington, M.D.

September 205 Issue

by E.J. Goodwin
Photography by Charlotte Berkeley

Dr. Heidi Harrington has many qualities that you’d hope to find in a plastic surgeon.

She’s creative. She’s artistic. She’s unapologetically detail oriented. She’s passionate about the prospect of improving her patients’ lives and confidence through plastic surgery.

She’s no stranger to the concept of teamwork, either. While leading Beaufort Memorial’s Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics practice, she collaborates closely with board-certified, fellowship-trained breast oncology surgeons in the hospital’s Breast Care & Surgery Program. Together, they’re building a comprehensive breast reconstruction program—bringing life-changing procedures to breast cancer patients right here at home.

The New Jersey native attended medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and completed her residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery on the West Coast in southern California. After training, she returned East to practice medicine, both in a hospital setting and private practice in New England.

But no matter which coast Dr. Harrington called home, two qualities never wavered: her drive for perfection and her competitive spirit. In fact, throughout her life, she has been involved with many obscure sports. That passion began at age 4 as a competitive equestrian, and in playing rugby while in college and medical school.

During her residency in California, Heidi dabbled in amateur Muay Thai, an elite martial art that blends tradition, athleticism, and precision. And when she moved to New England to practice medicine, she enjoyed trail running in the White Mountains and dove into Olympic weightlifting and competitive CrossFit.

And a few years ago, she turned her focus to a different kind of athletic venture—cornhole.

Dr. Harrington was first drawn to cornhole during the pandemic—a time when many sought new ways to connect and unwind. “People don’t realize it’s a huge sport now on a national scale,” she explained.

For her, it quickly became more than just the familiar thunk of a beanbag hitting a wooden board at a summer barbecue. She now travels across the country to compete in singles and team-based cornhole tournaments. “I just have to have something like that in my life,” she said. “It’s a great community of people who love to get together and have fun—and also ultra-competitive people who want to win.”

While working outside of Boston in Portsmouth, N.H., Dr. Harrington helped build a local cornhole community, bringing together and eclectic group of enthusiasts. “The community is really the best part. All different ages of people, people from different backgrounds enjoying time together,” she said.

As the sport’s popularity has surged nationwide, women have become its fastest-growing group of players. But for Dr. Harrington, cornhole has become more than a pastime—it’s a platform for purpose.

At one tournament, she struck up a conversation with a fellow competitor where she shared that she was a plastic surgeon. The woman then shared something very personal: she was a breast cancer survivor, and she opened up to Dr. Harrington about her journey and her reconstruction experience.

As they talked, what began as a casual game turned into a meaningful exchange about survivorship. “I thought I was going to go play cornhole, to have that time away from work,” Dr. Harrington recalled. “And there we were, talking about something I never expected.”

That moment struck her: “One in eight women will be affected by breast cancer at one point in their life,” she said. “I just started realizing, ‘Wow, this is something that affects this community, too.’”

From that insight, “Tossin’ for Tatas” was born—an annual charity cornhole tournament celebrating survivorship and raising funds for My Breast Cancer Support, a nonprofit serving breast cancer survivors and their families in New Hampshire’s seacoast and southern Maine.

“The first year, I think we raised a little over $8,000,” she remembered. “This past year, we raised more than $16,000. I was super excited; it’s just growing and growing.”

Dr. Harrington said that once she’s settled into her position on Beaufort Memorial’s surgical staff, she plans to bring “Tossin’ for Tatas” to the Lowcountry.

In the meantime, she’s focused on building the recently opened Beaufort Memorial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetics practice, which launched last fall. Backed by two decades of experience in reconstructive and cosmetic procedures, she leads a dedicated team at her office in Okatie, offering a full spectrum of services for the face, breasts, and body.

And beyond the clinic walls, her passions for community, competition, and charity continue to converge—often with the satisfying thunk of a beanbag hitting its mark.

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Up Close:

• Dr. Harrington grew up on a horse farm in New Jersey and originally wanted to be a veterinarian.

• She is a self-proclaimed “perfectionist” and likes to apply that to the “creativity and artistry” of the plastic surgery field.

• If she wasn’t a plastic surgeon, she’d probably be an event designer—she loves making moments beautiful, fantastical, and memorable.

• For Halloween, she likes to go all-out. Last year, Dr. Harrington and her teenage daughter crafted a whole graveyard at their house, hand-carving Gothic tombstones themselves.

• Her favorite part of her job is forming relationships with her patients and being able to guide them to a result where they feel confident and can reclaim who they are.