The people behind EHI

Operators who have done it.
Experts who have seen it all.

The EHI founders and Principals run every engagement day to day and answer for the results. The EHI Experts add depth in specific fields, and we bring them in when a challenge calls for it instead of keeping them on retainer.

The operating team

The people accountable
to the outcomes.

Two founders, one from clinical operations and one from strategic investment. Behind them sits a bench of domain experts we call on when a challenge needs them.

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Muhammad Ali Chaudhry, Founder & CEO, Emerging Health International

Muhammad Ali Chaudhry

Founder & CEO

Ali leads EHI's clinical and operational model: the governance, delivery architecture, and knowledge frameworks behind every engagement. He has spent 15 years running healthcare facilities across the Gulf, South Asia, and North America. He is a doctor by training, and he has also managed wards, run facilities, and answered to boards. His work covers clinical transformation, commissioning, operational turnaround, and leadership transition. He built NoorCare Health Network from the ground up and has advised on healthcare delivery at the scale of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health Vision 2030 programme. His approach is the same every time: improve what is already there, hand the capability over to the client's own team, and leave the organisation stronger than he found it.

Relevant background

PET/CT Fellowship, Johns Hopkins · Assistant Professor of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine · The clinical grounding behind a decade of operational leadership
Operating Partner, ZT Corporate (Texas) and TVM Capital Healthcare (Dubai), evaluating private equity healthcare investments across South Asia and MENA
MBA, University of Massachusetts Amherst · MBBS MD, Nishtar Medical College
Delivery Knowledge Technology Capital access

Pakistan · UAE · Saudi Arabia · USA

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Mehdi Attarha, Co-Founder, Emerging Health International

Mehdi Attarha

Co-Founder

Mehdi leads EHI's value creation and financial performance work, which is the commercial engine of every engagement. He has spent two decades where healthcare development, operations, and investment meet. His track record covers strategy development, operational turnaround, working capital optimisation, revenue cycle improvement, post-merger integration, and building platforms for exit or investment. Ali owns the clinical and delivery transformation. Mehdi owns the operational and financial architecture around it, making sure that what gets built creates enterprise value that can be measured and transferred. He knows how to make a healthcare asset perform, and how to make that performance clear to the investors and acquirers who come next.

Relevant background

Large-scale healthcare investment and development across the Gulf and North America, including sovereign wealth funds, private equity, and greenfield builds
MHA, Penn State University · BASc Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto · Executive Leadership, Rotman School of Management
Capital access Delivery Technology

North America · UAE · Gulf · West Asia

Saudi Arabia & GCC

The team on the ground
in the Kingdom.

Three Principals who have run hospitals, finance functions, and technology platforms inside Saudi healthcare. They lead EHI's engagements in the Kingdom and the wider Gulf, working side by side with the founders and calling on the Experts when a challenge needs specialist depth.

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Dr. Osama Al-Khaldi, Principal, Saudi Arabia and GCC, Emerging Health International

Dr. Osama Al-Khaldi

Principal, Saudi Arabia & GCC

Healthcare executive with over two decades of leadership experience spanning hospital operations, healthcare investment, and organizational transformation across Saudi Arabia and international markets.

Leadership highlights

Led a 300-bed hospital through major operational growth and international accreditation.
Delivered a day-surgery business turnaround, improving bottom-line performance by over 95% within two years.
Managed healthcare investment transformations and exits, including supporting a healthcare company’s Nomu listing.
Brings hands-on expertise in operational restructuring, governance, institutionalization, and investment readiness.
Delivery Capital access

Saudi Arabia · GCC

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Syed Ammar, Principal, Healthcare Finance and Transactions, Emerging Health International

Syed Ammar, ACCA

Principal, Healthcare Finance & Transactions

Ammar has spent eight years running finance inside Saudi hospital groups. It is the work that decides whether a healthcare asset is ready for an acquirer, a lender, or a listing. As Group Finance Director within a healthcare group, he oversees a SAR 1 billion portfolio of three hospitals and six medical complexes. He has completed three acquisitions (a 65-outlet pharmacy chain, a 100-bed hospital, and a manufacturing facility), arranged around SAR 200 million in financing, and rebuilt the finance function to get it ready for an IPO. Before that, he turned around Dr. Noor Muhammad Khan General Hospital, cutting costs by 35% and lifting revenue by 10% in six months.

Relevant background

Group Finance Director, diversified healthcare group · Group Financial Director, Dr. Noor Muhammad Khan General Hospital · Kingdom Hospital & Consulting Clinics
IFRS first-time adoption, SAP and Oracle ERP rollouts, VAT and ZATCA compliance, buy-side due diligence
ACCA · BSc Applied Accounting, Oxford Brookes University
Capital access Delivery

Saudi Arabia · Pakistan

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Sheeraz Akhtar, Principal, Digital Health and Technology, Emerging Health International

Sheeraz Akhtar

Principal, Digital Health & Technology

Sheeraz brings end-to-end expertise in healthcare digitalisation, ELV (extra-low-voltage) systems, and ICT infrastructure, covering the complete technology journey from initial planning and construction coordination to fully operational hospitals. His experience spans technology strategy, infrastructure design, vendor and installation oversight, clinical and business systems integration, testing, commissioning, go-live, and ongoing IT operations. Working with a private-equity-backed rehabilitation provider, he took a 66-bed facility in Dhahran and a 150-bed facility in Al Khobar from concept to paperless, licensed operation. This included the ICT and ELV foundations, integrated HIS, ERP, laboratory, pharmacy and radiology systems, NPHIES connectivity, ZATCA e-invoicing, cybersecurity, and business continuity. He governed more than USD 10 million in vendor contracts, with both hospitals opening on schedule with MOH licences, CBAHI accreditation, and CARF certification. Earlier in Dubai, he led Cerner Millennium integration with DHA systems and took a DHCC clinic through its licensing inspection. He combines strategic planning with practical delivery knowledge across the full hospital technology lifecycle.

Relevant background

Healthcare technology leadership in Saudi Arabia · Two greenfield hospitals, 99%+ availability on mission-critical systems
NPHIES, HL7/FHIR, ZATCA · CBAHI, CARF, JCI, NCA and DHA/DHCC compliance
BSc Computer Science, Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology · ITIL4
Technology Delivery

Saudi Arabia · UAE · Pakistan

EHI Experts

The depth behind the work.

The EHI Experts are a working bench. They are specialists we bring in when a challenge needs their particular depth, whether that is clinical operations, health technology, capital access, policy, or workforce development. A clinic owner gets the founding team plus targeted expert input when it matters. A ministry-level engagement draws on the full bench.

01

Clinical & Operations

Dr. Zeina Khouri-Stevens

Dr. Zeina Khouri-Stevens, R.N., Ph.D.

Executive Vice President for Health Services at Lebanese American University, where she oversees two hospitals, clinics, and the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Founder of The Saeeda Akhtar Clinical Institute. Previously held senior clinical and operational roles at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Clemenceau Medical Center, and Emirates Hospitals.

Gregory F. Schaffer

Gregory F. Schaffer, LFACHE

Former President & CEO, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Former CEO, Tawam Hospital (UAE) under Johns Hopkins Medicine International. Executive leadership across hospital systems in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Faculty, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Life Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives.

Dr. Linda Lee

Dr. Linda Lee

Board-certified gastroenterologist and former Chief of Staff, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare. On the Johns Hopkins faculty since 1994, working across clinical care, research, and education for three decades. Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and American College of Physicians.

02

Health Systems & Global Strategy

Steven J. Thompson

Steven J. Thompson

Founder and former CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, leading its global healthcare consulting and service operations across 30+ countries. Earlier leadership roles at Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, and Brigham & Women's/Harvard. Board roles in India, Singapore, UAE, Turkey, and Malaysia.

Irfan Khan

Irfan Khan

Group CEO, Evercare Healthcare Group. Over 25 years building and scaling healthcare operations across emerging markets, with a steady focus on access, quality, and financial sustainability in places where all three are hard to get right.

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Capital & Partnerships

Syed Jamal Baquar

CEO, TPL RMC, one of Pakistan's largest REITs. Former senior roles at JPMorganChase, Samba Bank, and National Bank of Pakistan. Over 30 years of investment banking and financial leadership across the US, Europe, and Asia. Brings institutional capital networks and transaction structuring expertise to EHI engagements where healthcare financing is on the table.

Sarmad Khan

Sarmad Khan

Founder & CEO, Telos Futures. Former Head of UN Office in the UAE and Global Head of Leadership Policy at the United Nations. Lead author of the UN's first Leadership Model. Brings EHI access to multilateral policy networks and sovereign stakeholder relationships across 25 years of international leadership.

04

Health Technology

Dr. Tamara Sunbul, MD MBA FHIMSS CPHIMS PMP

Group Chief Information Officer, Fakeeh Care Group. Former Medical Director of Clinical Informatics at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare for 17 years, where she led the Epic EMR rollout to HIMSS Stage 7, a KLAS Pinnacle Award, and CHIME Most Wired Level 9. Co-founder, ZIMAM International Digital Health Workforce Development Association. UNECE digital health advisor. HIMSS Changemaker Award 2025. 31 years building clinical informatics and digital health infrastructure in the Gulf. She knows what works when an EMR meets the realities of an emerging market.

05

Policy & Global Engagement

Ammara Khan

20 years advancing healthcare and development initiatives across public, private, and multilateral organisations. Currently with UNDP's Global Policy Network, after senior roles at Health Systems Global and the Canadian Association for Global Health. Brings EHI credibility and access in policy and institutional conversations.

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Clinical Education

Deep expertise in nursing education, clinical accreditation, and healthcare workforce development, built around The Saeeda Akhtar Clinical Institute and its growing network of hospital training partnerships.

Additional experts being engaged