Leadership Team

Robert L. Meyer

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Robert “Bob” Meyer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Children’s, one of the nation’s largest pediatric healthcare systems.

Since joining Phoenix Children’s in 2003, Meyer has made numerous contributions to the hospital and the communities it serves. He is credited for the rapid and significant turnaround of the hospital's finances and operations, unifying diverse constituents and unifying the hospital’s vision for quality, growth and integration — bringing pediatric care closer to home for families across Arizona.

Under his leadership, Phoenix Children’s has expanded from a single campus to a growing health system offering services at dozens of clinical sites across the state. Phoenix Children’s is consistently recognized as a top pediatric hospital by U.S. News & World Report and The Leapfrog Group, a coalition of employers focused on healthcare safety and quality.

Meyer led the development of clinical integration at Phoenix Children’s with the establishment of the Phoenix Children’s Care Network, Arizona’s only physician-led pediatric network. Through a strategic alliance with Dignity Health Arizona, Phoenix Children’s now serves as the pediatric affiliate for all four of Dignity’s Arizona hospitals.

Meyer is staunchly committed to pediatric medical research and education. Phoenix Children’s serves as the Department of Child Health for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Prior to his work with Phoenix Children’s, Meyer served as Vice President and National Director for Health Strategy Practice for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Chief Financial Officer for Hamot Medical Center.

Meyer holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant.

David Higginson

Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer

David Higginson has dedicated more than 25 years to children's health care and joined Phoenix Children's in 2011 as the Chief Information Officer (CIO). As CIO, he oversaw all aspects of information technology strategy, project execution, systems design, and technology infrastructure maintenance. Phoenix Children's implemented a fully integrated EMR, Billing, and ancillary clinical systems with a single database and product line integration under his direction. Before transitioning to his current role as Chief Innovation Officer in 2020, David served as Phoenix Children's Chief Operating Officer beginning in 2018, where he was responsible for Nursing, Operations, Information Technology, Supply Chain, Process Optimization and Marketing.

Higginson is an innovator and entrepreneur. He successfully launched and developed his own health care software company, commercialized numerous innovations into patents and successful products and is passionate about operational efficiency and process improvement. He regularly speaks at health care conferences on the evolving role of technology as the efficiency platform underpinning care delivery and the importance of operationalizing the insights provided by data in the EMR. In 2016, Higginson was named "CHIME Innovator of the Year" and was awarded AZ Top Tech's "CIO of the Year" in 2017 and the Phoenix Children's IT department has twice been recognized as the Best Healthcare IT department in the US.

Before taking his position at Phoenix Children's, Higginson was Chief Information Technology Officer at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) in Little Rock. During his 16-year tenure at ACH, he implemented more than 500 systems and was instrumental in building the IT and research departments as the hospital doubled in size.

After obtaining his degree in accounting/finance from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, he qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1994 while working as an investment analyst in London. At the age of 10, he began developing computer systems. He combined his keen interest in computing with his financial expertise when he developed systems for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the UK's Royal Mail.

Carmen Neuberger, J.D. 

Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs and General Counsel

Carmen Neuberger, J.D., joined Phoenix Children’s in 2007 as the health system’s first in-house general counsel. She is responsible for providing legal guidance across the enterprise, counseling health system leaders on business transactions and managing complex contractual relationships and affiliations. In addition to the office of legal affairs, she also oversees quality and risk management, compliance/privacy and government relations.

Neuberger’s expertise has played an important role in many transformational milestones for the health system. She helped establish a landmark alliance with Dignity Health, which paved the way for improved access to high-quality pediatric healthcare in the growing Phoenix metro. She was also instrumental in the formation of Phoenix Children’s Care Network, a physician-led, pediatric-focused clinically integrated network that works to deliver high-quality, cost-effective pediatric care.

In addition to the alliance with Dignity, Neuberger helped establish a joint venture with Dignity to build a Women and Children’s Pavilion, a five-story patient care tower scheduled to open in 2025, offering top-quality maternity and pediatric care under one roof. She also secured a long-term land lease for Phoenix Children’s Hospital – Arrowhead Campus, which includes a multi-specialty clinic and the system’s second freestanding hospital.

Neuberger earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Duke University. She worked as a critical care nurse for five years before earning her law degree at George Washington University. She started her legal career in private practice and went on to serve as Senior Corporate Counsel for MedStar Health, a complex tri-state adult healthcare system based in the mid-Atlantic region, comprised of 10 hospitals and approximately 30,000 employees.

Active in her professional community, Neuberger has served as an adjunct faculty member for the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, is a current member of the American Bar Association and the American Health Lawyers Association and is admitted to practice in Arizona, Virginia and Washington, D.C. She has also served as a member of the National Advisory Child Health & Human Development Council of the National Institutes of Health, an appointment she received from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.  

Throughout her four decades practicing healthcare law, Neuberger’s impact has earned her notable awards. She is the recipient of the Arizona Corporate Counsel Lifetime Achievement Award and has been named Arizona Corporate Counsel Non-Profit Attorney of the Year. In addition, Phoenix Business Journal recognized Neuberger on their “Outstanding Women in Business” list and named her a Health Care Hero award winner in the non-physician category.

Michelle Bruhn 

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Michelle Bruhn serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Phoenix Children’s, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing pediatric healthcare systems. Bruhn is a seasoned financial executive with more than three decades of experience in healthcare finance and accounting. 

As CFO at Phoenix Children’s, Bruhn leads financial strategy and operations, investments and asset management. Her team’s broad financial initiatives across the health system support Phoenix Children’s continued expansion of clinical programs and sites of service. 

Prior to joining Phoenix Children’s in 2023, Bruhn had a 24-year career at Sanford Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in the country, culminating in the role of EVP, CFO and Treasurer. She oversaw the $7 billion health system’s annual revenue growth, investment policy and $2.4 billion portfolio, audits and filings, and interactions with rating agencies. Bruhn also led a restructuring of Sanford Health’s debt, resulting in $68 million savings of interest expense. 

Her financial experience spans various healthcare sectors including ambulatory, acute and post-acute operations, health plans and clinical research.

Bruhn holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from the University of South Dakota. She is a certified public accountant and an active member of various industry associations, including the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Justin Bradshaw, FACHE

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Phoenix Children’s, Justin Bradshaw plays an integral role in ensuring consistent, high-quality, integrated care throughout the health system’s more than 50 sites of service. He is responsible for unifying critical areas of operations including nursing, ancillary services, support services, supply chain and facilities. In addition, he aims to improve operational efficiencies as the health system continues to open new clinical locations, allowing families to receive care closer to home.

When Bradshaw joined Phoenix Children’s in 2024, he brought more than two decades of diverse leadership experience from some of the nation’s best children’s hospitals, as well as large, integrated adult health systems and academic medical centers. He employs a systems-based approach to healthcare delivery, having established and expanded complex patient care programs, such as solid organ transplant, to multiple sites of service.

Previously, Bradshaw served as operations officer at Intermountain Medical Center (IMC) in Utah, the largest hospital in the Intermountain West, with nearly 5,000 employees and $1.3 billion in annual revenue. There, he oversaw strategic growth and quality initiatives, resulting in improved quality ratings and expansion of IMC’s centers of excellence. He also served in operations leadership roles at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he integrated patient-centered practices that streamlined operations, enhanced efficiency and improved patient satisfaction.

His considerable experience in pediatric healthcare includes five years at Children’s Nebraska as vice president, clinical and ancillary services, in addition to an administrative residency at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an administrative fellowship at Stanford Children’s Health.

Bradshaw earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Southern Utah University and his master’s in health administration from The Ohio State University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Daniel J. Ostlie, MD

Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Surgery

As Surgeon-in-Chief and Chair of Surgery, Dr. Ostlie is accountable for Phoenix Children's Hospital’s surgical services and leadership within all surgical divisions, including General Surgery, ENT, Dermatology, Urology, Congenital Heart Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery, Trauma, Anesthesiology and Transplant.

Dr. Ostlie also provides administrative and clinical leadership to four clinical program centers that encompass multiple divisions. These include the hospitalists and critical care program, the neurosciences institute, and the heart center. He remains committed to education and research, and has administrative oversight for both the research and educational endeavors at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Prior to joining Phoenix Children’s, Dr. Ostlie served as Surgeon-in-Chief at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, WI, and held Professor of Surgery and Professor of Pediatrics positions at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Ostlie completed his residency in general surgery at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale from 1995 to 2000, during which time he also spent one year as a research fellowship at Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. After general surgery residency, he completed his pediatric surgery fellowship and surgical critical care fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, where he stayed on, starting as a staff surgeon. During his 10 years with the institution, he rose through numerous leadership roles, including vice chair of the Department of Surgery and program director of both the Pediatric Surgery Residency and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. Dr. Ostlie and his wife have immediate family in the Phoenix area and are excited to continue their support of the communities and children of the Valley.

Stewart Goldman, MD

Senior Vice President of Research and Chair of the Department of Child Health

Stewart Goldman, MD, is an internationally renowned pediatric oncologist and physician-researcher whose appointment with Phoenix Children’s and the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix brings a new level of rigor, excellence and inquiry to research, education and clinical programs.

As the Senior Vice President of Research, Dr. Goldman is tasked with continuing to grow a robust research and education enterprise in one of the fastest-growing markets in the country and recruiting the nation’s top talent. He oversees a research program that consists of 700 studies, 640 research investigators and 90 research staff members.

In his role leading the Department of Child Health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Dr. Goldman and his team focus on translational research across all aspects of children and family health to innovate clinical care, advance new therapies for common and rare childhood diseases, and to improve the emotional, educational and cognitive well-being of children.

Dr. Goldman joined Phoenix Children’s after an illustrious 23-year tenure at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he served as the Division Head of Hematology-Oncology, Neuro-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation and as a professor of Pediatrics.

An accomplished leader in brain tumor research, Dr. Goldman’s contributions to the medical and scientific communities are significant. He’s published more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has held numerous leadership positions and has been the recipient of dozens of awards acknowledging his tireless work and research, including most recently Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine Alumni of the Year for Excellence in Research and Innovation.

Dr. Goldman earned his medical degree from Loyola University Stitch School of Medicine and completed his internship, residency and fellowship at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Rhonda Thompson, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC

Senior Vice President Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Executive

Rhonda Thompson is the Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Executive for Phoenix Children’s, one of the nation’s largest pediatric healthcare systems. Thompson brings a wealth of experience in nursing leadership and a passionate focus on quality care and the patient experience.

In her current role, Thompson promotes and develops Phoenix Children’s professional RN practice and collaborates with physician leadership and others to drive continuous improvements in clinical services and patient outcomes. She plays an active role in the organization’s decision-making structure and strategic planning in order to prepare for the health system’s continued growth.

Previously, Thompson served as Chief Nursing Officer for The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio where she was also the William H. Parry, M.D. Endowed Chair of Pediatric Nursing. She also served in nursing leadership roles at Memorial Hermann in Houston, including Director of Pediatric Special Care Services, and at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Thompson earned a doctorate in nursing from Rush University, plus a master’s degree in nursing and a Master of Business Administration from University of Phoenix.

Kety Duron

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Kety Duron joined Phoenix Children’s in 2022 as Chief Human Resources Officer. In her role, Duron oversees talent acquisition and management, workforce engagement, leadership development and organizational transformation as Phoenix Children’s continues to expand its sites of service and workforce statewide.

An accomplished healthcare leader, Duron most recently held the same role for City of Hope, a not-for-profit comprehensive clinical research cancer center, hospital and graduate school. She oversaw HR strategy for more than 7,000 employees and launched numerous impactful programs and initiatives designed to maximize recruitment, retention and engagement. Most notably, Duron led new career and leadership development initiatives.

Prior to City of Hope, Duron was Vice President of Human Resources at Stanford Health Care and held various leadership roles in Human Resources at UCLA Health for over 25 years. 

Duron received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece, and a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University. She also completed leadership development programs at UCLA, Stanford University and the Center for Creative Leadership. Duron speaks nationally on talent strategy; upskilling and reskilling talent; and women in leadership.

Steve Schnall

Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, Foundation

Steven Schnall has served Phoenix Children's Hospital since 1983. In his current role as Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation, Steve provides strategic leadership for all aspects of philanthropy for the Hospital. Under his direction, the Foundation has led numerous successful campaigns that supported development of Phoenix Children's. A 5-year, $250M funding initiative has been focused on building a world-class children's hospital.

Steve's prior roles at Phoenix Children's included Vice President, Business Development and Outreach where his responsibilities included strategic planning, marketing and public relations, community relations, physician relations and grants. He has also served as Vice President, Ambulatory Services and additional administrative posts for the hospital.

Steve is a graduate of Arizona State University where he received a BA in Psychology. He received his MA in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix.