Executive Team at Labib Medical Center
Dr. Labib Abouzahr
CEO and Chief-of-Staff
As CEO, Dr. Abouzahr is focused on realizing the vision of LMC. His objective is to steer the organization on the macro level through the definition and implementation of major strategic initiatives, mapping the hospital’s trajectory of growth and excellence. Since returning to Lebanon in 2005, Dr. Abouzahr planned and oversaw the expansion of the hospital’s premises, the introduction of new and advanced clinical services, and the digital evolution of the hospital’s systems and equipment. He has also led by example to instill in LMC’s teams a yearning for accomplishment and perfection, enabling collective empowerment and orienting his teams towards the ultimate goal of better serving patients. With a patient-focused approach and an uncompromising attitude towards quality medical care, Dr. Abouzahr ensured alignment between the hospital’s business operations and the provision of high-end patient care in an effective and safe manner, while also preserving a friendly environment for patients, their families, and for LMC doctors and employees. Inevitably, this propelled LMC to become a leading healthcare facility nationwide.
Dr. Abouzahr also functions as Chief-of-Staff at LMC. Through this role, he is able to work closely on the day-to-day clinical functions and operations of the hospital as well as the direct performance of his staff. Additionally, his responsibilities include the recruitment and retention of physicians, surgeons, and key hospital staff, ensuring an environment that is conducive to their growth, development, and ultimately to the delivery of exceptional patient care.
After earning his Doctor of Medicine from the American University of Beirut (1988), Dr. Abouzahr went on to pursue his specialty training in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto (completed 1994 and 1997 respectively) and ultimately became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC) in both specialties. After a clinical fellowship at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center (1997-1998), he joined as an attending surgeon and lecturer at the University of Toronto. In 1999, Dr. Abouzahr moved to McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences Center in Hamilton, Ontario, where he worked as an assistant clinical professor and attending surgeon until August 2005. Throughout his career, Dr. Abouzahr developed expertise in several areas of cardiac and thoracic surgery, and he has leveraged this expertise to develop the cardiothoracic surgery department at LMC into one of the most advanced in the region.
Mr. Mouin Abouzahr
General Director
As General Director, Mouin Abouzahr is responsible for overseeing all business operations and strategic initiatives at LMC. This includes defining the scope of services provided, negotiating contracts with both public and private payers, managing relationships with suppliers, recruiting highly qualified personnel in all areas of the organization, and ensuring excellence in the quality of care provided. Mouin is also responsible for managing LMC’s overall financial position, working closely with the CEO and CFO to ensure alignment between strategic goals and financial performance. His primary focus centers around creating a culture of quality, which is reflected in the materials, medical equipment, technology, and services provided at LMC.
Prior to officially joining the hospital in 1989, Mouin spent years under the guidance of his father and founder of the hospital, Dr. Labib Kamel Abouzahr, developing a thorough understand of all aspects of the hospital’s operations. Dr. Abouzahr instilled in Mouin a balanced perspective – one which took into account the historical, cultural, and strategic foundations of the business, while always putting the needs of the patient first. Through this, Mouin developed exceptional business acumen and a keen understanding of market dynamics in the region, paying close attention to trends in patient needs and shaping LMC’s strategy to meet those needs. Under Mouin’s leadership, LMC was able to achieve the ISO-9001 certification (an internationally recognized standard for creating, implementing, and maintaining a quality management system) and has grown the hospital to become a 137-bed facility offering a broad range of medical specialties and serving a patient population of over 1 million people. His unrelenting commitment to providing exceptional care, attracting and maintaining highly qualified personnel, and expanding the scope of hospital services has been at the foundation of LMC’s growth and success within the Lebanese healthcare space.
Mouin Abouzahr earned his bachelor degree in psychology from the American University of Beirut with minor courses in Business Administration in 1986.
Ms. Samar Al-Rifai
Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer, Samar oversees all accounting and financial reporting at LMC, and is a key contributor to the structuring of the hospital’s major investment decisions. She is in charge of managing LMC’s finance department, which consists of 15 employees across cashiers, billing, audit & collection, and financial accounting.
Samar joined LMC in 2003, where she started her career as a junior accountant. Over the years, she grew to become a senior accountant and played a major role in the restructuring of LMCs financial accounting department to operate independently from outsourced firms. Samar’s rigorous oversight ensured the proper functioning of the department and strict adherence to international accounting standards in the production of LMC’s financial statements, which have continuously been audited and approved by one of the Big 4 accounting firms on a yearly basis since 2006. In 2010, Samar was promoted to CFO, where she further developed LMC’s finance department through consolidation of the financial accounting, billing, auditing & collection, and cashier departments into one centralized department. Since then, she has continued to lead her teams effectively by promoting a culture of collaboration, attention to detail, and ethical business practices.
Samar received her Bachelor in Business Administration with distinction from Hariri Canadian University in 2003, and went on to earn her MBA from the Olayan S. Suleiman School of Business at the American University of Beirut.
Dr. Hazem Badih
Medical Director & Deputy Chief-of-Staff
As Medical Director and Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Badih is responsible for managing and supervising all medical administration activities at LMC. This includes directing and overseeing the professional conduct of all medical staff, reviewing and updating all medical administration and staff policy and procedures, organizing all medical staff duty coverage, overseeing the entire recruitment process of new medical staff applicants, dealing with complaints concerning the conduct of medical staff, and assisting the Chief of Staff in all relevant duties.
Dr. Badih joined LMC in 1999 as a general and vascular surgeon. In 2001, he was appointed as Medical Director and Deputy Chief of Staff, and also held the position of Quality Manager and Chief of Surgery from 2002 until 2008. During his time at LMC, he was also appointed as the Chairman of the Medical and Health Committee of the Municipality of Saida. Prior to joining LMC, Dr. Badih completed his surgical training at the Hospitals of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland from 1992-1999, where he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a member of the royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.
Dr. Badih graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor of Science in 1987, and went on to complete his medical education at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1992.
Dr. Gemma El Sayar
Chief Development and Transformation Officer
As Chief Development and Transformation Officer, Dr. Sayar is responsible for ensuring a seamless transformation across hospital processes and anticipating change and obstacles along the way. In addition, Dr. Sayar continues to serve as Nursing Director at LMC. In the latter role, she is responsible for overseeing all areas related to the administration, strategic planning, budgeting, organizational management, and clinical operations of the nursing team at LMC.
Dr. Sayar joined LMC in 2002 and rose through the ranks to become the nursing director in 2012. Since then, while simultaneously building expertise as a healthcare consultant and trainer, she has led with a hands-on approach and developed proven strategies in nursing practices. Dr. Sayar is experienced in dealing with diverse personalities, managing internal and external conflicts, negotiating, facilitating collaboration and teamwork, and motivating individuals and groups through effective communication and outcome-oriented approaches. Her contribution to LMC has proven her ability to implement breakthrough strategies to achieve organizational goals. During the last five years, Dr. Sayar led the health-system's information technology at LMC, where she oversaw the EMR implementation, and the analysis and improvement of the related processes and clinical workflows.
Dr. Sayar has expertise in different areas including, but not limited to, quantum leadership, change management, corporate strategy planning, training and coaching, organizational development, performance and compliance management, and health information system.
Dr. Sayar holds a Bachelor degree in Nursing from the Lebanese University, a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from the Saint Joseph University and a Doctorate Degree in Business Administration from ESA Business School and Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne with special focus on emotional intelligence in the nursing profession.
Dr. Mohamad Ibrahim
Patient Safety and Risk Management Director
As Patient Safety and Risk Management Director, Dr. Ibrahim is responsible for overseeing and providing innovative consultative services to improve and enhance risk management and patient safety programs at LMC. His areas of focus include risk identification, assessment, analysis and prevention as well as risk management and patient safety education.
Dr. Ibrahim has over 14 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Over the years, he has developed expertise in areas of risk management, patient safety, quality & healthcare management, occupational health, food safety, and infection control. In addition to his responsibilities at LMC, Dr. Ibrahim works as a university lecturer, and is frequently requested to present in seminars and provide training and consultation services to healthcare institutions across Lebanon. He is a national accreditation surveyor at the Ministry of Public Health and has worked as a national expert for the World Health Organization office in Beirut. Dr. Ibrahim is a member of several international organizations including NAHQ (National Association for Healthcare Quality), AIHQ (American Institute of Healthcare Quality), APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology), ASM (American Society for Microbiology), ESCMID (European Society of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases), NPSF (National Patient Safety Foundation), ISQUA (The International Society for Quality in Healthcare) and ASHRM (American Society for Healthcare Risk Management).
Dr. Ibrahim received his Master of Science in Clinical Microbiology, with an emphasis on infection control, from the University of Balamand. He then earned a Master’s degree and a PhD in Health Sciences with a “Change Management” concentration from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Ibrahim has attended extensive national and international trainings and has received academic and professional postgraduate certifications from reputable institutions (Harvard Medical School, World Health Organization and others) in areas of patient safety, risk management, quality systems, infection control, informatics, and leadership in healthcare settings.
Ms. Rima Francis
Quality Director
As Quality Director, Rima is responsible for implementing, maintaining and improving the Quality Management Systems in addition to introducing and implementing the Patient Experience Program at LMC.
Rima Francis has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, developing extensive expertise in nursing practices, infection prevention/control, quality management, patient safety, strategic planning & different accreditation standards. She began her journey at LMC as an intensive care unit nurse, later moving on to hold various managerial positions in the nursing department as well as the infection prevention & control unit where she led the Quality, Risk Management and Patient Safety programs for several years. Throughout her career, she made a substantial contribution towards setting up, implementing, and maintaining the ISO 9001 certification as well as the Lebanese accreditation standards.
Rima earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN) from the Lebanese University, a University Diploma (DU) in intensive care from Saint Joseph University, a DESS (Diploma of Specialized Higher Studies) in Risk Management of Hospital Infections from Saint Joseph University, and a diploma (DU) in Healthcare Quality Management from Lebanese Germany University.
Ms. Lama Fouad Arnaout
Administrative and Material Management Director
As Administrative and Material Management Director, Lama supervises and coordinates the day-to day activities of the administrative departments and services at LMC. This includes coordinating with the HR Manager to ensure the application of sound HR policies and procedures, collaborating with the Medical Director and the Medical Records Coordinator to manage medical records and documentation policies, overseeing the IT team to ensure the smooth operation of the hospital systems and IT services, working with the Admitting Officer to manage patient admitting processes and pricing of medical supplies, and coordinating with the CFO regarding billing strategies and the application of contractual agreements with guarantors as established by the General Director.
Lama joined Labib Medical Center as Administrative Director in 1992 in charge of directing, leading, overseeing, and developing the Human Resources Department covering all HR initiatives. Her career encompassed monitoring the application of sound HR policies in compliance with the MoPH accreditation standards, administering pay and benefits’ programs, and analyzing statistics and significant figures regarding staffing patterns and future needs to achieve organizational and employees development objectives with the aim of improving patient care and satisfaction. Throughout her career, Lama maintained knowledge of HR trends and best practices, new technologies in human resources, talent management, and labor regulatory changes, and ensured that all HR operations are carried on smoothly and effectively. Additionally, Lama was appointed to manage LMC’s procurement department. Her tasks include supervising LMC’s sourcing capabilities and supply chain. She is accountable for implementing cost-effective purchases of all goods and services, organizing and confirming delivery of goods and services, selecting, strategizing, and negotiating with suppliers and vendors in order to acquire the most cost-effective deals to reduce procurement expenses and to ensure stock optimization.
Lama earned her Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology Master from the American University of Beirut in 1990 and her Master of Public Health specialized in Health Services Administration form the American University of Beirut in 1992.
Ms. Sabah Skakini
Human Resources Director
As a Human Resources Director, Sabah is responsible for handling all human resources activities at LMC. Her areas of focus include strategic planning, continuous education and employee development, talent management, resources and budget forecasting, recruitment, orientation and onboarding processes, organizational development, and employee relations.
Sabah joined LMC in 2013. In her role, she was responsible for the HR support of over 400 employees, which required providing innovative HR solutions, developing policies, managing performance and employee competency, improving processes, and managing employee wellness. With over 13 years of progressive experience, and in addition to being a healthcare consultant and trainer, Sabah gained extensive expertise in workforce management, developing excellent communication and interpersonal skills while successfully leading and motivating employees through the creation of a healthy and highly productive work environment.
Sabah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Sciences from the Lebanese University-Faculty of Public Health and a Master’s Degree in Healthcare and Quality Management from the Lebanese University-Faculty of Sciences. She also pursued a University Diploma in Healthcare and Quality Management from the Lebanese German University & GATES Group, and attended extensive trainings where she received professional certifications from different organizations locally and abroad.