From the March 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


HCB News: How long have you been with Phoenix Children's and what drew you there?
RL: I joined Phoenix Children’s in 2018 for several reasons, but the one most compelling for me was the opportunity to help take the organization from a hospital to a health system. SSM and OhioHealth were big health systems when I walked in the door — my role was to help them grow and become more successful. At Phoenix Children’s, we are in the middle of our journey, growing from one main hospital to a full-scale health system with sites of service across Arizona. This is the work I love most.

I’ve also always been fascinated by the desert and loved sunshine and was excited about the opportunity to move west.
HCB News: Can you tell us a bit about the demographics and patient populations you're serving?
RL: Our problem set is different than many other pediatric systems; our metro area is growing rapidly in terms of number of children being born or moving here, while other metro areas have the opposite problem. Currently, 65% of Arizona’s children live in the Phoenix area.

We need to be on the pulse of understanding our community, and where it’s growing, and how it’s changing. We are in the fastest-growing county in the country, and one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the entire country, as well.

Organizations such as the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Urban Land Institute are doing work in building and shaping the way Phoenix is growing. They are trusted partners in helping us understand where we need to grow in the future to be of the most service to our community.

Fortunately, most children are very healthy. But when we are considering which communities to expand into, we need to be able to reach fairly large numbers of children with as short a drive time for them as possible. We need to consider what is a sustainable business but laid out in a way that works for families and helps them fit into our larger enterprise, as well.

HCB News: Are there any special projects or initiatives you're undertaking or planning to undertake?
RL: I have a passion for building and growing. At Phoenix Children’s, I am working with our physician-in-chief and surgeon-in-chief to lay out our growth strategy, particularly in the West Valley region of the metro area. It’s more than just opening new sites, it’s taking a close look at the needs of families here and determining the best plan for meeting those needs, now and in the future.

It’s also about helping Phoenix Children’s rebrand itself as a system of care providing the full continuum of care versus a single hospital focused on medically complex patients. We’ve been Arizona’s answer for complex children’s healthcare since we opened in 1983. We treat the most complex cases and offer services in 75 pediatric subspecialties.

March 2022 Magazine

Read more stories from the March 2022 issue

More Hospital Spotlight

More Voices