Chief executive officer (ceo)
Dr Sven Young, MD, PhD, FCS (ECSA)
Dr Young was trained as an orthopaedic surgeon in Norway. Before coming to Malawi in 2008 he was head of paediatric orthopaedic surgery at Haukeland University Hospital (HUH) in Bergen, Norway, and specialised in paediatric and adult reconstructive surgery, and orthopaedic trauma surgery. He has been working as an orthopaedic surgeon and leading the HUH support of the surgery training programme at KCH since 2008. The idea for the establishment of LION to meet the huge need for surgical services in a more sustainable manner originated from his discussions with colleagues in the orthopaedic department at KCH and he has been working with MoH and HUH to realise this vison since 2012. He was appointed as the CEO of LION at the LION Trust’s first Board meeting in November 2016. He is still seconded by HUH.
Medical director
Dr Boston Munthali, MBBS, MSc, FCS(ECSA)
Dr Munthali trained as an orthopaedic surgeon at KCH in Lilongwe, qualifying in 2015 under COSECSA. He did his Spine surgery Fellowship from 2016-2017 in India. Before LION he was working in Northern Malawi at the referral Mzuzu Central Hospital. There he was head of orthopaedics and a member of the hospital’s management team. He has served on the LION board of Trustees as the trustee representing the Malawi Orthopaedic Association from 2019 to 2020. He is committed to working towards advancing the scope of orthopaedic care services in Malawi.
Dr Munthali was employed by the LION Trust as the first Medical Director of LION in December 2020.
Director of Nursing
Ms Rachel Chikondi Jiya, BSc.N, UCM, MSc.(N)
Ms. Jiya qualified as a nurse from Kamuzu College of Nursing in 2010, then later did her University Certificate in Midwifery at the same institution in 2014. She graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing majoring Medical-Surgical Nursing at the Xiangya Nursing School of Central South University in China on 23rd June 2020. During her Masters, she researched Pressure Injuries as a measure of the quality of ward care in the hospitals of Malawi.
Before joining LION, Ms. Jiya worked with Kamuzu Central Hospital in the endoscopy unit and surgical ward as an in-charge focusing on organizing the units for improved service and patient safety as well as delivering direct nursing care for 10 years. From 2016 to 2018, Ms. Jiya was also seconded to Kamuzu College of Nursing as a clinical instructor on a two year contract. During this time, she was responsible for teaching, mentoring, supervising, and assessing nursing students during their clinical placement, identifying the students' gaps, and teaching them skills both in the clinical departemnts and skills lab. Ms. Jiya has also worked as a part-time lecturer at KCN in the Medical-Surgical department for one year.
Ms. Jiya was employed by LION Trusts as the first Nursing director of LION on 1st February 2021.
Director of finance
Mr Pyoka Mfuni, MBA, CGMA, CA(Mw)
Mr Pyoka Mfuni is a Global Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA, CGMA) with extensive experience in financial management, business operations and advisory. As the Finance Director LION he is responsible for Financial Strategy, Operational Risk, Controls and Reporting.
Prior to LION he worked as Management Accountant at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital Limited, Advisory Services Manager at Grant Thornton Botswana, Finance Manager at Leo Schachter Botswana, and Senior Accountant at Botswana Meat Commission. He is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Nyika Development Trust in Malawi. In the past, he served on several advisory boards at Botswana Accountancy Oversight Authority, Botho University, Association of Accounting Technicians Botswana branch, and BMC Football Club. He has lectured at Millennium University in Blantyre, Pentecostal Life University in Lilongwe and Institute of Development Management in Gaborone. He is a co-author of a business management book titled “Entrepreneurship Mindset”.
Mr Mfuni was hired as the first Finance Director of LION in February 2021.
Director of HR
Mr. Patrick Chitsime, MBA, BaHR, Dip. CM
Before pursuing a career in HR & Admin, Mr Chitsime was a qualified Clinical Officer graduated from the Malawi College of Health Sciences. He worked as a general Clinical Officer for MOH and Dream Malawi for nine years accumulating experience of the public health care system in Malawi. He later trained as an HRM practitioner at Chancellor College.
Prior to joining LION, he worked as a Principal HR & Administrative Officer for the University of North Carolina Project Malawi; a Bio-Medical Research institution where he provided overall oversight for the management of the human resources and administration operations and office management. He has seven years of professional experience in Human Resources Management, Administration, Operations (Procurement and Fleet management), General Management and General Office Management and holds an MBA from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI).
Mr Chitsime was hired as the first HR Director of LION in February 2021.
Director of maintenance and infrastructure
Mr Grycian Massa, BSc, MSc
Mr Grycian Massa trained as an engineer in Casablanca, Morocco in 2013. Through his career he has acquired several professional qualifications and extensive experience on the management and maintenance of clinical equipment and ICT.
He headed the Referral Maintenance Unit (RMU) North at Mzuzu Central hospital for two years before moving to Kamuzu Central hospital where he headed the Referral Maintenance Unit (RMU) for Central Region for seven years. He was in charge of the biomedical aspects of construction and installation of the new theatres at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH). He has worked as a biomedical engineer for Operation Smile in Malawi since 2014, leading and supporting the biomedical team during surgical camps with surgical teams from abroad.
Mr Massa has a good track record of reducing organisation expenses and increasing efficiency in service delivery by using successful management practices such as 5S principles. He is a registered member with the Medical Council of Malawi and also a member of the Infection Prevention Control Association in Malawi (IPCAM) and a national assessor for the Quality Improvement (QI) team.
Mr Massa was employed by LION Trust as the first Maintenance director of LION on 1st February 2021 and is responsible for health technology management and infrastructure at LION.