A Letter from Dr. Gary Gottlieb: The Sudden Passing of Friend and Colleague Dr. Max Raymond Jr.

Posted on Feb 7, 2016

A Letter from Dr. Gary Gottlieb: The Sudden Passing of Friend and Colleague Dr. Max Raymond Jr.
Dr. Max Raymond Jr. (left) in St. Marc, Haiti, during training for distribution of the cholera vaccine in 2012.
Photo: Jon Lascher / Partners In Health

Dearest colleagues and friends of Partners In Health,

It is with great sadness that I share the tragic news that our friend and colleague, Dr. Max Raymond Jr., died in a drowning accident in Sierra Leone on Saturday, February 6.  Max was working in Sierra Leone in his role as Partners In Health's Director of Leadership Development, deeply engaged in nurturing the work and the careers of our team there.

We have been the beneficiaries of Max’s kindness, his passion and his talent since 2006, when he joined Zanmi Lasante and Partners In Health as a physician in St. Marc, caring for patients with HIV. After earning his master's degree at ITM in Antwerp in 2011, Max returned to Haiti where he helped to design and lead our cholera treatment and vaccination programs, saving and safeguarding thousands of lives in Central Haiti. With equal energy, in 2013, Max joined PIH/Lesotho where he applied his exceptional gifts as a clinical manager at our sites across that mountainous region.

Just this past year, Max moved to Boston to lead the PIH program in leadership development across all sites. As a trusted physician, implementer, and generous teacher, Max was the perfect person to launch our Global Health Delivery Leadership Program. His deep commitment to our mission and to the growth and success of his colleagues inspired all of us. He will be deeply missed.

We honor Max’s life with the work that each of us does in service of those at great need and in the spirit of great generosity and support for one another that he modeled so well for us.

In solidarity,

Gary L. Gottlieb, MD
Chief Executive Officer
Partners In Health

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