Zanmi Lasante organization and people

Zanmi Lasante is governed by a Comité Exécutif (CEX) which consists of program managers for each of the various initiatives or projects taking place in Haiti. Members include:

• Director of HIV/TB – Dr. Fernet Léandre
• Director of Women’s Health – Dr. Maxi Raymonville
• Director of Strategic Planning and Operations – Loune Viaud
• Director of Finance and Administration – Branel Joseph
• Associate Director of ZL – Bossuet Sainvilus
• Health Systems Manager – Patrice Nevil
• Program Manager, Water and Education Projects – Marie Flore Chipps
• Financial Officer – Jacques Pasquette
• Human Resources Manager – Lucas Luckner Joseph
• Medical Director, Cange – Dr. Joanel Joasil

This team is made up of Haitian professional members of the Zanmi Lasante staff and is based in Cange. CEX members meet with their individual program staff regularly and come together weekly to engage in strategic planning, implementation, and budgeting. Under their leadership Zanmi Lasante and PIH work on a wide variety of programs in the Central Plateau, including not only provision of medical services but also programs to train community health workers and create jobs, improve housing, provide clean water, increase access to primary and secondary education, and to prevent hunger.

Once a year the CEX works with Boston-based program managers and financial staff to review spending for the previous year and to solidify the budget for the upcoming year. Each of the major PIH/ZL initiatives has its own budget, work-plan, and monitoring-and-evaluation mechanism.

The Zanmi Lasante CEX acts as the executive branch of ZL in all matters of program implementation and strategic planning. PIH’s Boston-based office serves as a headquarters for all project sites and provides the main backstop for management and financial affairs. PIH support is coordinated with the CEX, and the teams work together regularly to manage and monitor projects that are funded either directly through ZL or indirectly through PIH. 

In Boston the CEX is supported primarily by the PIH Program Manager, PIH Medical Director for Haiti, PIH Medical Director, and the PIH Executive Director. A team of eight to 10 people works on various aspects of the project – procurement, agriculture and nutrition, maternal and child health, research, etc. – providing tools and administrative support to the CEX and the entire Zanmi Lasante team.

In addition, the CEX collaborates with other Haitian organizations such as Fonkoze, a microfinance institution; the Esther Boucicault Foundation, providing social support and patient referrals to ZL; GHESKIO, an organization treating HIV patients in Port-au-Prince; and several other international agencies including World Vision, the World Food Program, University of South Carolina(?). Both the Boston-based and Haitian staff work to make these partnerships successful.

People

Some of the key people in the Zanmi Lasante’s activities and its Comité Exécutif include:

Maxi Raymonville, M.D.
Dr Raymonville is Director of Women’s Health at Zanmi Lasante and an obstetrician and gynecologist. He has extensive experience in implementing programs in the Central Plateau and specifically in working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Dr. Raymonville has principal ZL responsibility for the Child Survival and Health Initiative in Haiti.

Fernet Léandre, M.D.
Since 1998, Dr. Léandre has directed Zanmi Lasante’s TB, STI, and HIV/AIDS Program. In that capacity, he led the HIV Equity Initiative – one of the first projects in the world to provide antiretroviral therapy free of charge for poor people with HIV in a resource-poor setting. Dr. Léandre has led ZL's Global Fund-supported expansion to six additional sites, and he works with the Ministry of Health staff at each of these sites to coordinate all services. He also works with all Zanmi Lasante staff to integrate as seamlessly as possible all of the health care delivery activities at our hospitals, the expansion sites, via mobile clinics, and through the community health worker network.

Loune Viaud
As Director of Strategic Planning and Operations for Zanmi Lasante, Ms. Viaud has long been a leader in improving access to health and social services for the destitute sick. She was awarded the 2002 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her demonstrated commitment to realize health as a human right in Haiti. Ms. Viaud pioneered Central Haiti’s first women’s health center and has implemented several women’s literacy projects, a scholarship program for girls, and a gender-awareness curriculum for training health care personnel. Ms. Viaud received a Peace and Justice Award from the Cambridge Peace Commission in 2000 and has been honored by many communities in Haiti over the years.

Father Fritz Lafontant
Father Fritz Lafontant, from the Haitian Episcopalian Church is the founding director of Zanmi Lasante. Fr. Lafontant has more than 40 years of experiences working in the Central Plateau of Haiti.

Branel Joseph
A native of Cange, Branel Joseph is Program Manager and Financial Officer at ZL. He is responsible for more than 1,000 staff members including hiring, salary negotiations, supervision and payroll. He works closely with members of the management and finance teams in Haiti and in Boston.

Marie Flore Chipps
Since Marie Flore was a teenager, she has helped her father, Father Lafontant, manage the different churches and school activities in the Central Plateau of Haiti. She left Haiti to study in the United States and came back in 1990, to work as the coordinator of Zanmi Lasante projects. Marie Flore oversees the day-to-day operations of clinicss and hospitals that provide care to more than 500,000 patients a year. She is currently the program manager for all the water and education projects at ZL.

Joanel Joasil, MD
Dr. Joasil has been working at ZL since 2002. Board-certified in internal medicine from the Faculté de Médecine in Haiti, Dr Joasil completed his hospital training in France. Dr. Joasil is currently the medical director at Hopital Bon Sauveur, in Cange.

Lucas Luckner Joseph
Lucas Luckner has been working with ZL since 2004 as the human resources manager. He oversees the 4,000 staff we have at ZL, including hiring, salary negotiations and supervision. He works closely with members of the management teams at the different sites.

Patrice Nevil
Since 1996, Patrice has been working with ZL as the health system’s manager. A board-certified engineer, Patrice has received extensive training in Haiti and the United States on electronic management records. He is currently the director of our IT system and is also responsible for design and construction of ZL facilities.

Jacques Pasquette
Mr. Pasquette, a native of Cange, has been working at ZL since 1996. He is currently a financial officer at ZL, with responsibility for hiring, salary negotiations, supervision and payroll. He works closely with members of the management and finance teams in Haiti and in Boston.

Jean Saint Luc Ramilus, M.D., MPH
Dr. Ramilus has been working with ZL since 1990. Board-certified in internal medicine from the Faculte de Medecine in Haiti and public health, Dr. Ramilus also serves as a program manager for the community health projects at ZL.

Bossuet Sainvilus
Since he was a teenager, Bossuet, a native of Mirebalais, has been working with Father Lafontant. A board-certified teacher, Bossuet is currently the associate director of Zanmi Lasante. He participates in all aspects of project planning and logistics.