Staff Profile: Dr. Theo Jean-Baptiste

HEI/SBH is pleased to welcome Dr. Theo Jean-Baptiste back as our Monitoring & Evaluation Officer. In 2012 Theo worked at SBH as a doctor on his social service rotation after graduating from medical school. Now he returns in a new role after completing two master’s degrees in epidemiology and public health. Theo will be managing all of HEI/SBH’s monitoring and evaluation work, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to improve our ability to track patient data and use it to improve the care and effectiveness of our programs. 

We talked to Dr. Theo about his path to this role at SBH, and what he has noticed about our growth and changes over the past five years.

Tell me about your background–your schooling, your ambitions, and your history with St. Boniface:

I got my MD from the medical school at the State University of Haiti, with a scholarship from the Haitian Education & Leadership Program (HELP). Then I did a Master’s degree in Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology in the European Program in Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology (Eu2P). I did a second Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a Fulbright Scholar. I first worked at St. Boniface Hospital as a doctor during my social service year in 2012, and have had a good relationship with Dr. Pierre and Dr. Bernard. Dr. Pierre was one of my recommenders in the Fulbright program.

What plans do you have for Monitoring & Evaluation at St. Boniface? What do you envision as the future impact of M&E on St. Boniface? 

My plan is to help develop and set up an information system in the hospital where data can be readily available anytime and can be used for research purposes and accurate reporting and to guide decision-making processes. Obviously, as the importance of data is growing worldwide, the work of monitoring and evaluation department will become more and more relevant for the hospital as we measure our processes and the impact of our activities in the community.

What are your initial impressions after your first few months?

My initial impressions are that [HEI/SBH] has grown tremendously in all regards over the past years, and everything we see makes us believe that the trend will continue. So we need to get ready to serve more people and offer a wide variety of services. We are also getting more recognition from around the country as the leading hospital in the southern peninsula. So it’s a motivation to keep improving all aspects of our work every day.

What have you noticed about our growth in the last few years? Where do you think the hospital is heading?

Looking at the growth of the hospital in the past few years, we can foresee that the hospital will continue to be the leader for health care in the southern peninsula. [HEI/SBH] is acting on several determinants of health, and not just providing healthcare services. With that pace of growth, we can anticipate the coming need for other services like orthopedics and other specialized care. I am pleased to be part of this team striving for excellence and together we are writing a good chapter in the history book of health in Haiti.