Faculty
Pediatric Hospice & Palliative Care Medicine Fellowship
Tressia Shaw, MD
Medical School: University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Tucson (2000)
Internship/Residency: Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, Banner Good Samaritan, VA/Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Maricopa Medical Center combined residency program (2004)
Board Certifications: Pediatrics, Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Dr. Shaw joined Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH) following residency initially as a hospitalist and a complex care pediatrician. She started the Palliative Care program at PCH in 2009 and fully transitioned to Palliative Care in 2015. She is currently the Palliative Medicine fellowship director and section chief for Palliative Medicine at PCH. She is also a member of the Ethics committee.
Dr. Shaw has been a pediatric medical director with Hospice of the Valley since 2006. Her research interests include the role of pediatric-specific hospice units in end-of-life care.
Outside of work, Dr. Shaw enjoys spending time with her husband and son, traveling and exploring new places, and finishing a good book.
Training (college, med school, post-grad, etc.): Dr. Wendy Bernatavicius graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1994. She then went on to pursue a career in Marketing and Advertising, while working toward her Masters of Business Administration at Villanova University. After about six years into her business career, she decided to switch paths toward Medicine. At that point, she completed a Post-Baccalaureate Program at the University of Pennsylvania and went onto complete her medical school education at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Internship/Residency/Fellowship (if applicable): Phoenix Children’s Hospital/Maricopa Medical Center Pediatric Internship/Residency Program.
Board Certifications: Pediatrics, Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Year joined PCH: Dr. Bernatavicius completed her 3-year pediatric residency program at the combined Phoenix Children's Hospital/Maricopa Medical Center program in 2008. She completed her residency as a Chief Resident during her last year of training. Dr. Bernatavicius then accepted a position as a General Pediatrician in the General Pediatric Clinic at Phoenix Children's Hospital in 2008 to pursue her career interest in caring for children with medical complexity. In 2010, Dr. Bernatavicius began her work in Hospice with Hospice of the Valley and became Board Certified in Hospice & Palliative Care Medicine in 2012. In 2016, Dr. Bernatavicius became Division Chief of outpatient pediatrics and as a rebranding effort to better represent the work of the clinic, the division underwent a name change and is now known as the Division of Primary, Complex Care & Adolescent Medicine.
Current leadership positions: Division Chief, Division of Primary, Complex Care & Adolescent Medicine
Projects/Committee work: Dr. Bernatavicius is working with Phoenix Children's Hospital on developing a standardized Transition Program to help patients with medical complexity transition more smoothly into Adult Medicine. In addition, Dr. Bernatavicius has been very involved with many organizations in Arizona to improve care coordination of children with medical complexity.
Interests/Personal/Fun facts: Dr. Bernatavicius enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. In addition, she loves to spend time outside (when it’s not too hot), playing the piano, and writing music.
Medical School: Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, Asuncion Paraguay (1998)
Residency/Fellowship: Initial pediatric residency in Paraguay, where she worked as an attending for a few years before relocating to the US where she did a residency training at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore with rotations at John Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland; Pain Management fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital; Hospice and Palliative Care fellowship at The Ohio State University.
Board Certifications: Pediatrics; Pain Management; Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine.
After working at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a staff physician in a combined position (Pain Management and Palliative Care), she moved to Arizona to join Phoenix Children's Hospital in 2017 and continues working in a combined position with the Comprehensive Pain Clinic and inpatient Palliative Care Service.
Interests: Alternative Medicine, Quality Improvement initiatives, Cultural differences.
Medical School: MD, University of Arizona, Phoenix and MPH – Epidemiology, University of Arizona, Tucson
Residency: Phoenix Children's/Maricopa Medical Center Pediatric Residency Program, Phoenix
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship: Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Delaware
Board Certification: Pediatrics and Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Dr. Winegard provides pediatric palliative care services at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She has served since 2019 as pediatric medical director at Hospice of the Valley. She is on the faculty of The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.
Doctoral Program: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Internship and Fellowship: Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Licensing: Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Dr. Ross has been a member of the inpatient consultation/liaison psychology service at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the dedicated psychologist on the palliative medicine team since 2018. Her work involves responding to a variety of psychological concerns among patients on the inpatient medical floors, as well as performing advance care directives with teens and young adults with chronic and/or life-limiting conditions. She is also a member of the bioethics committee.
Outside of work, Dr. Ross enjoys cooking, running, and hiking with her husband and two dogs.
Amanda Sahli, MS LAMFT
Graduate School: University of Phoenix, Master in the Science of Marriage and Family Counseling and Child Therapy (2008)
Internship: Hospice of the Valley, Bereavement Counselor (2007)
Amanda joined Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) in 2016 as the Bereavement Coordinator. She transitioned from Hospice of the Valley (2008 – current) where she maintains employment as a pediatric bereavement counselor for continuity of care.
Amanda chairs the PCH memorial committee and has recently joined the Ethics committee. She is working on certifications in bereavement counseling and thanatology and was recently admitted to Colombia University’s Narrative Medicine certification program to begin this fall.
Outside of work, Amanda enjoys snuggling on the couch with her 2 cats (Holly and Clyde), dog (Ginger), and fiancé (Hotchy), while: reading a good, non-grief related, book; binge-watching Netflix; playing Candy Crush Saga; teaching herself how to knit, speak Arabic, and Spanish; or work on a crossword puzzle.
Graduate School: Arizona State University, Tempe (2004), Rush University, Chicago IL (2018)
Postgraduate Internship: Texas Children’s Hospital, PICU (2004)
Board Certifications: Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Acute Care, and Primary Care
BJ joined Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 1997, as an international travel nurse. She later joined staff, worked in the PICU, caring for patients with critical illness/diseases including complex congenital heart disease, and later became an ECMO specialist. After pursuing graduate school studies, BJ obtained certification to practice as a PNP and worked for several years in the PICU, then the CVICU. To enable her to fulfill her goal of obtaining a faculty position in academia, she obtained a DNP at Rush University. BJ transitioned to the Palliative Care team in 2019, where she is able to combine her years of experience in the ICU arena, to provide care for patients and families with a focus on communication, family support, symptom management, care coordination, and discussing goals of care.
Current leadership positions: Mentor to new hire PNPs. Coordinator of End-of-Life Nursing Education (ELNEC) classes for nurses at PCH. Developed outpatient clinic for patients with nasal bridles. Associate Professor at Rush University for DNP students.
Interests/Personal/Fun facts: BJ is part-time faculty at Rush University. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, reading, and hiking.