DESCHAPELLES, HAITI —Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (HAS) has appointed Jean Marc deMatteis as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. deMatteis is a native of Haiti and brings 20 years of experience in both health care and commercial enterprises.
“We are pleased to welcome Jean Marc deMatteis to HAS. With his leadership skills, deep managerial expertise and lifelong love of Haiti, he will be instrumental in ensuring HAS will continue to fulfill its mission,” says HAS Board Chair John Walton.
Mr. deMatteis replaces Louis Martin, who has been Chief Executive Officer at HAS since October 2012. Under Martin’s leadership, HAS adapted to significant post-earthquake population growth and to increasingly complex demands for health services. Martin oversaw the adoption and completion of many major grants and projects, including the conversion to solar power, an expansion of the hospital’s 24-hour observation unit and implementation of a Zika surveillance and family planning program under a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
For HAS to maintain its quality of care at the highest level possible, Mr. deMatteis will be leading the effort to adjust programs and services to better align with present funding levels.
“HAS has served the needs of this remote area well for the past 63 years and we need to make the innovative adjustments necessary to ensure that we continue to do so for the next 63 years,” says deMatteis. “I am confident that by working together with our longtime friends and partners, we will overcome the present pressing challenges by implementing necessary changes while never losing sight that we are here to serve the people in our community.”
The hospital will be heightening its focus on high-risk maternity services and pediatrics to address Haiti’s maternal and infant mortality rate, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. In recent years, HAS has also seen an overwhelming increase in the demand for care, driven by the tremendous population growth of the region and increasing complexity of accidents and illnesses.
Jean Marc deMatteis began his tenure as CEO of HAS on June 1, 2019. He has long been active in public health efforts in Haiti and serves on the board of various non-profit organizations. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. He currently resides in Port-au-Prince with his wife and their two children.
Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (www.hashaiti.org) was founded in Deschapelles, Haiti in 1956 by Dr. Larimer Mellon and his wife, Gwen Grant Mellon. The 131-bed hospital has a staff of over 500 dedicated professionals and provides integrated hospital and community-based healthcare services to a population of more than 350,000 people in a 610 square-mile service area, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.