Meet Our Medical Staff

Our Physicians

As pediatricians, our physicians' focus is on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions that primarily affect children and adolescents from birth through 21 years of age. All of our physicians are board-certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and are Fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

We like to get to know our patients and their parents, and we like you to have the opportunity to get to know more about us, too.

Robert Chirlin, MD, FAAP

Dr. Chirlin joined Children's Health Care in 1987 after a year of private practice in Minnesota. He is board-certified. After attending medical school in his home town at SUNY Buffalo, Dr. Chirlin completed his pediatric residency at Case Western University/Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio from 1983 through 1986. Dr. Chirlin has established a large base of patients with Attention Deficit Disorder and other behavioral problems.

His roots now well established in the Newburyport area, Dr. Chirlin, his wife, Patti, daughter, Alyssa, and son, Jacob, take full advantage of the four-season activities offered in New England.

Carolyn Thumser, MD, FAAP

Dr. Thumser joined our practice in 1990. A native of New York, she attended Colgate University and the State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse. She completed her pediatric residency at the Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital and is board-certified in pediatrics.

Dr. Thumser, her husband, Joe, daughter, Lauren, and son, Peter, find Newburyport the perfect place to indulge in their love of outdoor activities including skiing, camping, gardening, and hiking.

Lars Lundgren, MD, FAAP

Born and raised in Sweden, Dr. Lundgren joined Children's Health Care in 1992. He is board-certified. After graduating from the Karolinska Institute Medical School in 1989, Dr. Lundgren and his family moved to New England where he completed his pediatric residency at Boston City Hospital from 1989 to 1992.

As a student, Dr. Lundgren participated in the internationally renowned organization "Up with People." The proud father of Sarah, Natasha and Marcus, Dr. Lundgren continues to support his children's involvement in their mother's dance school in Hampton Falls, NH.

Stacey Sheehan, MD, FAAP

Dr. Sheehan, a native of Illinois, joined our practice in July 1994. She attended Marquette University where she majored in philosophy. A board-certified pediatrician, she received her medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Sheehan and her husband are the proud parents of four daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys jogging and spending time with her family.

Thomas Carmichael, MD, FAAP

Dr. Carmichael joined Children's Health Care in the summer of 1997, and is board-certified. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and graduated from Tufts Medical School in Boston. He went on to complete his pediatric residency at Brown University's Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.

Born and raised in mid-coast Maine, Dr. Carmichael finds the Newburyport area a wonderful place to live with his wife, Wendy, and children, Olivia and Gavin. They like to spend their free time antiquing and exploring New England. Dr. Tom has also been known to spend time either working on stained glass projects, or at his computer writing fiction or surfing the net.

Eric Bucher, MD, FAAP

Dr. Bucher joined Children's Health Care in the summer of 2001 after three years in private practice in Pennsylvania. He majored in English literature at Northwestern University and received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He completed his pediatric residency at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is board-certified.

Raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Dr. Bucher enjoys writing and playing music, woodworking, finding new branches of his family tree, and spending time at home with his wife and three daughters.

Christine Riccardi, MD, FAAP

Dr. Riccardi came to Children's Health Care in 2006 after spending two years in private practice in Syracuse, NY. She graduated from the University of Rochester and went on to study medicine at the Universidad Autonoma De Guadalajara and New York Medical College. She completed her pediatric residency at Long Island College Hospital/Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and is board-certified. 

Dr. Riccardi was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut, where her family still lives. She now resides in Newburyport with her husband and children. She enjoys spending her free time with her family and one day hopes to travel and learn to sail.

Our Nurse Practitioners

Children's Health Care employs pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) to help us provide the best possible care for your children. PNPs are experts in childhood medical and behavioral care. After completing their registered nurse training, all PNPs continue their education in both classroom and clinical pediatric environments. All nurse practitioners are supervised by a physician.

We are proud of the quality of care our PNPs provide. Our nurse practitioners can answer your questions and provide excellent care during both acute illness and well child visits. We encourage you to use our PNPs' expertise to the fullest.

Jennifer Pollard, RN, CS, PNP

Jennifer is a native of Rye, New Hampshire. She joined Children's Health Care in 1995. In 1990, Jennifer received her Bachelor's degree in nursing from Boston College and went on to be a staff nurse at Children's Hospital for the next four years. Jennifer returned to Boston College, earning her Master's degree, and completed pediatric nurse practitioner training in 1995 at Boston City Hospital. She is certified by the American Nurses Association.

In her home away from Children's Health Care, Jennifer enjoys being at home with her husband, her son, Joshua, and daughter, Leah.

Mary Elizabeth Meehan, RN, MS, CPN

Mary Beth was born and raised in Framingham, Massachusetts. After receiving her Bachelor's of Science degree in nursing in 1992 from Boston College, Mary Beth moved to Baltimore to work at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Missing her home in New England, she returned a year later to work at Boston's Children's Hospital. During her five years at Children's, Mary Beth attended Northeastern University to receive her Master's of Science and obtain her pediatric nurse practitioner certification through NAPNAP.

Mary Beth enjoys spending her free time with her husband, John, and children, Jack and Kiley. Her outside interests are cooking, travel and drawing.

Elizabeth Williams, RN, CPNP

Elizabeth was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. She attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where she obtained a Bachelor's degree in biology. After spending four years working in research at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, she returned to graduate school in New Haven. In 1998 she received a Master's degree in nursing from Yale University and obtained her pediatric nurse practitioner certification through NAPNAP.

Elizabeth lives in Exeter, New Hampshire where she enjoys hiking, fishing, and doing anything outdoors with her husband, Chris, and sons, Jack and Owen.

Donna Gustafson, RN, MS, CPNP

Donna was born and raised in Massachusetts. She graduated from Salem State College in 1977 with a Bachelor's degree in nursing. After working as an RN for 21 years, Donna attended the nurse practitioner program at Simmons College and graduated with a Master's degree in 2001. She is currently certified through NAPNAP.

Donna has three children, and when not at Children's Health Care she enjoys spending time with her family. Her outside interests include traveling, canoeing and gardening.

Jodi Cobb, RN, CPNP

Jodi is a native of Groveland, Massachusetts and joined Children's Health Care in the summer of 2005. She received a Bachelor's degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Jodi went on to work for two years as a staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, caring for critically ill newborns. She received her Master's degree from Boston College School of Nursing in 2005.

Jodi is an avid reader and lives in Amesbury with her husband, daughter and two dogs.

Terry Reardon-Pollini, RN, CPNP

Terry joined Children's Health Care in the spring of 2007. She grew up on Long Island, New York and received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Nursing from Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY. She graduated from Boston College with a Master's degree in 1983. Terry has worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Fallon Clinic in Worcester, MA, at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles and at Exeter Hospital, Exeter, NH. She is board-certified by the American Nurses Association.

Terry enjoys reading, gardening, sewing and running road races. She lives in Stratham, NH and can be found jogging with her husband or tide pooling for hours with her sons, Robbie and Max.

Our Consulting & Support Staff

As a large practice devoted exclusively to pediatrics, Children's Health Care is able to offer consulting and support services for children that frequently are not available in a typical doctor's office.  These include a pediatric nutritionist, a child psychiatrist, and a special care coordinator. Referrals to our consultants are made by our primary care pediatricians and nurse practitioners.

David Sorenson, MD

Dr. Sorenson is the consulting child psychiatrist for Children's Health Care. He received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed an internship at Salem Hospital. His residency and fellowship training were at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and Boston University Medical Center. Dr. Sorenson is board-certified in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He is available for consultation regarding medical management of a wide variety of behavioral and psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Appointments with Dr. Sorenson are made at the request of our primary care providers after initial consultation with one of our pediatricians.

Sally Cargill-Knapp, MPH, RD, LDN, CSP

Sally is the nutritionist at Children's Health Care. She graduated from Simmons College, completed a dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital  and has a Masters in Public Health from Boston University School of Medicine. Sally has worked extensively in the field of cardiovascular nutrition at Massachusetts General and the Harvard School of Public Health. She is also board-certified as a specialist in pediatric nutrition. Sally is available for consultations on a wide variety of pediatric nutritional issues, including overweight children, failure to thrive and poor weight gain, high cholesterol, and specialized dietary needs such as allergic and diabetic diets.

Barbara Kneeland

Barbara is our Special Care Coordinator at Children’s Health Care. Her role is to aid the families of children with special or complex health care needs. Although she has a nursing background, Barbara’s qualifications for this position come largely from her own life experiences parenting a child with special care needs into young adulthood. She has an extensive knowledge of the services and benefits available to our families. Barbara is also available for consultations to assist with special education issues and help families understand the often overwhelming 504 and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) processes. Barbara is available in our Amesbury office Monday through Thursday at (978) 388-7250. You can also see our Special Care web page by clicking this link.