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Dr Muthoni Ntonjira

GENERAL MANAGER, PHILIPS EAST AFRICA

Philips is one of the leading health technology companies globally focused on developing and manufacturing innovative healthcare solutions whose purpose is to improve people’s health and well-being through meaningful innovation.

Philips aims to improve 2.5 billion lives per year by 2030, including 400 million in underserved communities globally.

We meet the equipment user turned supplier, Dr. Muthoni Ntonjira, a distinguished and polite woman, who has read real books, yet remains humble and courteous.

Dr. Muthoni, a proud and loving mother of two, aged 8 and 2, is a consultant anaesthesist, who holds a Master’s degree in Medicine in Anaesthesiology, a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery and an on-going MBA in Healthcare Management from the prestigious Strathmore University.

Muthoni was appointed General Manager Philips East Africa on March 3, 2020, an easy transition for someone who has spent most of her working life using the high technology and patient friendly Philips medical equipment. She is now responsible for the overall Philips East Africa operations and the business growth agenda in Kenya.

Globally, Philips in full is Koninklijke Philips N.V., a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven on 15 May 1891 by Gerard Philips and Frederick Philips. It is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The most known subsidiary is Philips Electronics.

In her role as General Manager at Philips East Africa, Dr. Muthoni, as she prefers to be called, manages sales and commercial partnerships with customers in Kenya, creates and implements the national sales and distribution strategy as well as the sales plan, including sales forecasts and annual operations plan. In this capacity, she provides leadership to the Kenya team and represents Philips East Africa externally in the region.

Dr. Muthoni is a self-motivated and passionate health care enthusiast with years of experience as a consultant anaesthesiologist and senior health care manager with a keen interest in the development of health care systems, both pre-hospital and in-hospital settings.

Dr. Muthoni began her journey as a medical practitioner after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi (UoN) in 2007, working briefly as a general practitioner in Ngong’ Subcounty Hospital, before returning to the University of Nairobi for her Residency Program in Anaesthesiology which she completed in 2012.

Dr. Muthoni’s tour of duty has taken her to several public and private health facilities as an anaesthesiologist and critical care specialist, before taking a stab at the Kenya Red Cross Society as the Medical Director. In this role, Dr. Muthoni was in charge of developing and implementing medical protocols under which the emergency medical services functions, including providing concurrent medical direction. She played a key role in trauma training as an American College of Surgeons (ACS) accredited Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) instructor and is a course co-director. Additionally, she trains prehospital trauma life support (PHTLS) as a National Emergency Medical Technicians’ (NAEMT-USA) accredited Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support course director.

Dr. Muthoni is very passionate about universal access to health care particularly in underserved communities and continues to volunteer services as an anaesthesiologist to those in need through various voluntary programs. She has served the Kenya Society of Anaesthesiologists (KSA) as an executive committee member, vice-treasurer and treasurer. She is a member of the Critical Care Society of Kenya (CCSK).

 In the words of Maya Angelou, “A leader sees greatness in other people. She can’t be much of a leader if all she sees is herself.” Dr. Muthoni draws her inspiration as a leader from her mentors who have along the way contributed immensely to her growth as an individual and as a career woman, teaching her sacrifice, commitment and hard work.  She believes that as a leader, there’s more satisfaction in succeeding as a team than as individuals.

A practicing Roman Catholic, Dr. Muthoni is a strong advocate for women in global health leadership and believes that women bring a maternal, very different and time proven perspectives to issues in global health as a virtue of their outlook in life. Dr. Muthoni adds, ‘Women are more transformational and they nurture their teams by singular mentorship that ultimately brings out exponential growth of every team member.

Dr. Muthoni posits that a lot of health issues affect women and they would be best placed to be able to address them as the issues are first personal before anything other considerations. ‘Moreover, since society places an enormous responsibility on women, as individuals and at a family level, women essentially will hone their leadership skills from a very early point in life,’ Dr. Muthoni adds.

Dr. Muthoni Ntonjira possesses strong entrepreneurship skills and a focused team player. She is fluent in English and Kiswahili and speaks a little bit of German and French.