Bertram Lubin, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Bert Lubin joined Children's Hospital in 1973 as Chief of Hematology/Oncology. He was attracted by the opportunity to work in a medical center devoted to children, for the diverse patient population the hospital served and for the opportunity to create an academic, non-university based medical center that excelled in primary, secondary, and tertiary care, commitment to its community, teaching residents and sub-specialists, and conducting nationally and internationally recognized medical research.

Dr. Lubin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, completed a residency in pediatrics at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, subspecialty training at Boston Children’s Hospital and was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as an Associate Professor for six years prior to his move to Children’s Hospital Oakland.

He has served on numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) committees, community based health consortium, and university panels across the United States. He has secured and directed NIH grants for 36 years in a variety of areas. His research has focused on studies of red cell membrane structure in normal and pathologic states, clinical and basic research related to sickle cell anemia, public health initiatives related to newborn screening for hemoglobin disorders and national cord blood banking programs. Children's Hematology/Oncology department has dramatically grown under his leadership and is recognized nationally and internationally for its outstanding care of children with malignancies, sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, and hemophilia.

In 1984 Dr. Lubin became the Director of Medical Research at Children’s Hospital Oakland. Under his leadership, basic, clinical and translational research activities expanded. He transformed a small research program into a highly successful enterprise called Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). In 2008 CHORI ranked 6th in the nation for NIH awards to children's hospitals. CHORI now serves as the research arm of the medical center.

Brad Barber, JD
Senior Vice President, Foundation and Chief Development Officer

Brad joined Children's Hospital in August 2006 as senior vice president and chief development officer of the hospital's foundation. Brad came to Children's after more than 25 years fundraising for the University of California, where he was the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Advancement for the University of California System. From 1994, he worked in the UC Office of the President, playing a critical role in helping to advance the University’s private support programs and policies. Under his leadership, private support to the University increased from $417 million in 1994 to $1.2 billion in 2005. Brad is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and the Boalt Hall School of Law.

Valerie Roberts, RN, MBA
Vice President, Specialty Care Services

Valerie Roberts, RN, MBA, returned to Children’s Hospital Oakland in 2009 as vice president, specialty care services.

Valerie brings extensive experience organizing and developing subspecialty services, and most recently served six years as the senior director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Fremont, Calif., a 100-physician multi-specialty operation.

Valerie previously served at Children’s as vice president, patient care services/clinical support services from 2000 to 2003. Valerie’s previous experience also includes senior level positions in patient care and surgical services in other California medical facilities, including Stanislaus Surgery Center in Modesto, Davies Medical Center in San Francisco and John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

Valerie received her MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and her RN from the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing.

Pat Brietigam
Vice President, Facilities Development & Construction

Pat joined Children’s Hospital Oakland as Director of Construction in 2008, after 30+ years in healthcare engineering and facilities development. Promoted to Vice President of Facilities in 2009, he  is responsibile for "Environment of Care” programs such as Facilities Development and Construction, Engineering, Food Services, Environmental Services and Bio-Med Engineering.

Previously, Pat served as Senior Project Manager at Harris & Associates, where he was involved with multiple hospital replacement and expansion projects. Pat served as the Regional Manager of Universal Health Services, with responsibilities for the development & construction of nine hospital facilities located in Alaska, Nevada and California. As the Vice President of Support Services at Valley Children’s Hospital, Fresno, CA, he was dedicated to the planning, development and construction of the new 625,000 square foot Valley Children’s Hospital facility.

Carolyn G. Dossa , CPMSM, MBPA
Vice President, Institutional Quality

Carolyn G. Dossa, CPMSM, MBPA, joined Children’s Hospital in 2007 as vice president, institutional quality.

Carolyn has many years of healthcare experience. In her 19 years at John Muir, Carolyn’s responsibilities included medical staff services, including the CME and Investigational Review committees, and hospital-wide accreditation and regulatory compliance. In prior positions at Mt. Diablo Medical Center she was also responsible for medical records, physician services, the Family Practice Residency Program and physician referral. 

During her 5 years with the California Medical Association Carolyn was responsible for the Consolidated Accreditation and Licensure Survey process, as well as the peer review and quality consultation programs.  

Carolyn has a BA in community services/health education from California State University, Chico, and an MBPA from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, Calif. She is also a certified professional in medical services management.

Carolyn has been a speaker at many conferences about accreditation. She is a member of the National Association Medical Staff Services, the California Association of Medical Staff Services, and was previously a member of Women Health Care Executives.

Jacquelyn Garman, Esq.
Vice President, General Counsel

Jacquelyn was named vice president and general counsel at Children's Hospital in 2006. She was formerly a partner with Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos & Rudy, LLP, Children's Hospital's primary law firm, where she specialized in litigation on behalf of healthcare clients. She received her JD at Stanford Law School, after receiving her BA and MA at Washington State University.

Jim Grosskopf, CRA, FAHRA
Vice President, Hospital Operations

Jim joined Children’s Hospital in 2005, bringing with him many years of administrative management and technical experience. Before he was director of Diagnostic Imaging at Children’s, he was administrator for the Sutter Fairfield Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging Centers, then a new startup service of Sutter Regional Medical Foundation.

From 1985 to 2004, Jim was the administrative director of Medical Imaging, Cardiovascular and Radiation Oncology Services for John Muir Medical Center and California Pacific Medical Center. Jim also held the position of director of Radiology and Radiation Oncology Services for Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, a large HMO in Seattle serving 350,000 members. He was responsible for diagnostic imaging in two hospitals, three specialty centers and 19 outpatient clinics.

Jim has served as a board officer regionally and nationally for American Healthcare Radiology Administrators, Inc. and is a fellow of the organization (FAHRA). Jim has lectured and published nationally, and is a certified radiology administrator (CRA).

John Hardy, MPA
Vice President, Human Resources

John joined Children's in 2008 after serving as a Human Resource Partner at Kaiser Permanente, where he was responsible for human resources for Kaiser construction projects. Before that, John served as vice president, Human Resources, of the Bay Area region for Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco.

Bill Jackson
Vice President, New Products

Bill Jackson joined Children’s Hospital in January 2008 as vice president, new products, after a 25 year-career consulting with more than 2,500 hospitals.

Bill got a BA in business administration, with highest honors, at the University of Nebraska before beginning his career with the Gallup Poll. He later co-founded the National Research Corporation, for which he conducted more than 1,000 consulting projects for more than 250 healthcare organizations.

Bill also worked as director of marketing at Presbyterian Healthcare Services before starting his own company, the Consumer Research Center, which he operated for 16 years before joining Children’s Hospital.

Bill is an inveterate adventure traveler who has visited 130 countries; climbed five of the seven continents’ highest summits, including Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. McKinley; and twice competed on Iditarod dog sledding teams.

Donald Livsey, MBA
Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Don began his 25-year healthcare career as a medical technologist at Brigham and Women's hospital. After receiving his MBA from the University of California, Irvine, in 1987, Don moved to healthcare information technology. He has previously held positions with Transitions Systems Inc., Huntington Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Health System and Children's Hospital of Orange County.

Don has been managing telecommunication support services and the information systems department at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland since 2000. At Children's he helped put in place a computerized physician medication order entry system that helped Children's earn a 2002 Most Wired Hospital award and a 2003 inclusion in CIO magazine's list of the 100 most resourceful companies. Don also helped Children's select and implement a digital diagnostic imaging system that will be accessible institution-wide.

Nancy Shibata, RN, MSN
Vice President, Nursing and Chief Nurse Executive

Nancy has been a member of the Children's Hospital staff since 1979. She has served in a variety of roles, including Pediatric Intensive Care Unit staff nurse, PICU assistant head nurse, PICU manager, nursing supervisor, director of Ambulatory Care, director of Critical Care Services, director of Nursing, and was named vice president of nursing in 2003. In her current role, Nancy directs operational, financial, quality and strategic activities for the Nursing Division including inpatient, surgical, and ambulatory areas.