Meet the Phoenix House Team

Chief among the goals Mr. Meitiner has set for his tenure at Phoenix House is the expansion of services to reach more persons in need of help and to provide ongoing care and support for the men, women, and teens we serve. With a broader focus on families and a more flexible mix of treatment, Phoenix House will continue to lead the way in substance abuse treatment and be better able to meet the needs of our clients and their families throughout their recovery.

A native of England, Mr. Meitner has lived in various cities around the world and has made New York City his home since 2001.

A pioneer in the treatment of substance abuse, Dr. Rosenthal started building the Phoenix House system of treatment programs in 1967 as deputy commissioner for rehabilitation of New York City's Addiction Services Agency. Today’s Phoenix House treats nearly 5,000 persons every day in New York, California, Florida, Texas, and throughout New England.

Dr. Rosenthal had earlier established the armed service's first therapeutic community for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction, and character disorders at the Oakland Naval Hospital.

Long a leading authority and spokesman for the treatment field, Dr. Rosenthal is a lecturer in psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has been a White House advisor on drug abuse, served as special consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and chaired the New York State Advisory Council on Substance Abuse from 1985 to 1997. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He received the George Washington Kidd Award from Lafayette College in 1972, the Director’s Community Leadership Award from the FBI in 1998, and was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) by SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2002.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Rosenthal earned his B.A. from Lafayette College in 1956 and his M.D. from the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center in 1960.

David A. Deitch, Ph.D. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Deitch, a clinical and social psychologist, re-joined Phoenix House in July 2007 as Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. He has more than 45 years of national and international experience in the development of drug abuse treatment systems for adolescents and adults.

Dr. Deitch is a professor of psychiatry emeritus at the University of California, San Diego where he led the Center for Criminality & Addiction Research for the past 15 years. In the non-profit public health sector, he was Co-Founder of Daytop Village, Inc., and later served as Chief Clinical Officer for the Phoenix House Foundation. In the academic sector, Dr. Deitch had faculty appointments at Temple University, the University of Chicago, University of California at San Francisco, as well as serving as Chief of Substance Abuse Services for the University of California, San Francisco. In the government sector, he has served as Coordinator of Curriculum and Faculty for the United Nations East Central European Drug Abuse Treatment Training Project and he continues to consult to a variety of Departments of Corrections and Ministries of Justice and Health, in Latin America, South East and South Asia and Europe. Dr. Deitch served during the Johnson Administration as consultant to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Crime and Juvenile Delinquency, and the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse. During the Carter Administration, he chaired the White House Task Force on Prevention. Send an email

Amy E. Singer Senior Vice President of Development, New Business and Public Affairs Ms. Singer has served as Senior Vice President of Development, New Business and Public Affairs since February 2007. She joined the Phoenix House Foundation in 1994 as Director of Criminal Justice Planning, was promoted to Vice President, Director of Program Planning and Research in 1995 and Senior Vice President and Director of Program Planning and Operations in February 2000.

She had previously worked as Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Programs for the New York City Department of Correction; Senior Associate for the Education Development Center; private consultant to the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation; Assistant Secretary for Criminal Justice, Boston, MA; and Chief of the Victim Witness Service Bureau in Cambridge, MA. Ms. Singer also chaired the National Advisory Committee for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s $21M Reclaiming Futures initiative. Ms. Singer has a B.A. from American University. She also has an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, where she was selected as the Arthur D. Little Fellow for her commitment to public service. Send an email

John Diehl Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary Mr. Diehl joined Phoenix House in December 2004 as Vice President and General Counsel. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel in December 2005. In October 2006, Mr. Diehl also assumed responsibility for Compliance and Quality Assurance.

Prior to joining Phoenix House, Mr. Diehl was a partner in the national law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP, where he principally represented colleges, universities and other not-for-profit clients. Mr. Diehl first joined the Nixon firm as an associate in 1981 and re-joined the firm in 2001 after having served for several years as chief legal counsel, senior advisor to the President, and corporation secretary for the University of Rochester. Mr. Diehl also served at various times as a member of Rochester’s adjunct faculty, teaching courses in law and economics to M.B.A. students. Mr. Diehl is admitted to practice in the State of New York. He received his B.A. (economics and business) from Macalester College (1975), M.S. in business administration from the University of Rochester (1978), and J.D. from the University of Miami (1981). Send an email

Kevin T. Kirchoff Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mr. Kirchoff joined Phoenix House in 1994 as Controller, was named Vice President in 1997 and became the Chief Financial Officer in 2001. He was promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in August 2002. In October 2006, he also assumed responsibility for the Purchasing and Management Information Systems areas.

Prior to joining Phoenix House, he served as Director of Finance and Accounting for the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.; Internal Audit Manager for Citibank N.A.; and Audit Manager for Pannell Kerr Forster, Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Kirchoff holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Iona College, an M.B.A. from Columbia University and completed a certification program in Computer Technology and Application Development at Columbia University. He is licensed as a C.P.A. in the State of New York. Send an email

Clyde Rush Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources and Training Mr. Rush joined Phoenix House in June 2000 as Vice President and Director of Human Resources. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources in February 2003. In October 2006, Mr. Rush also assumed responsibility for the National Training function.

Prior to joining Phoenix House, Mr. Rush retired from Bristol-Myers Squibb where he held a number of key human resources positions, most notably as Senior Vice President, Strategic Staffing from 1998 to 2000 and as Senior Vice President, Human Resources, U.S. Pharmaceutical Group from 1991 to 1997. In addition to more than 30 years experience in human resources management, Mr. Rush has designed, conducted and presented Leadership and Teambuilding programs throughout the United States and around the world. He received a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Louisville. Send an email