St. Joseph’s elects first woman and Arizona native as chief of staff: 'I hope I'm not the last'

PHOENIX - Founded in 1895, St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center was the first hospital in the Phoenix area.

This year, there is more groundbreaking history for the hospital. The first female chief of staff has been elected.

Phoenix native Dr. Anne Burns has always had a strong connection to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

She was born at the hospital on Thomas Road. Her dad was a doctor and her mother was a nurse at the hospital.

Then, when she got older, "When I was a junior in high school, I came back and was a junior volunteer," Dr. Burns said. "It was back when we wore the candy striper, and I worked in the pediatric playroom and worked in the gift shop."

After medical school in California, she eventually returned to the Valley, and in 2002 got a job at St. Joseph’s.

"It felt like home here, I knew the place," Dr. Burns said. "My dad was on staff here, my mom was a nurse here, and it just felt like the right fit."

Dr. Burns also gave birth to one of her sons at the hospital.

She has so many ties to St. Joseph’s and now the physician is Chief of Staff, working with more than 1,600 on the medical staff.

"It’s kind of amazing that I am the first female Chief of Staff at the hospital. It took until 2024 for that to happen, but I'm super proud and honored to be the first and I hope I'm not the last," Dr. Burns said.

The busy mom says that it’s possible for working women to find balance.

"I hope that I can be a role model to other young women, young physicians," Dr. Burns said. "Women that are considering a career in medicine or any professional career that are concerned about the balance."