Larry Kaplan, MD: Board President

As a veteran of medical disaster relief work (Cambodia, India, and Honduras) over the past thirty years, Dr. Larry Kaplan started working with Haiti Clinic in Cité Soleil five days after the 2010 earthquake. He has since returned to Haiti on a number of occasions, primarily to establish and coordinate Cité Soleil Opportunity Council, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that purchases traditional Haitian tin art from Cité Soleil artists, sells the art through the Wellesley (MA) High School Global Marketing class and on the internet, and returns the profits to Haiti Clinic.

Dr. Kaplan is a retired gastroenterologist and former CEO of a suburban Boston health care organization. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government and has served on the boards of health maintenance organizations, social service agencies, and Jewish philanthropic groups. Dr. Kaplan can be reached at kapalad@gmail.com.

Kathryn B. Johnston: Vice President of Operations

Kathryn B. Johnston was born in Keene, New Hampshire, and is licensed to practice law in both Florida and New Hampshire. Ms. Johnston received her Juris Doctorate from the University of New Hampshire Law School in 1989. She was honored as one of only two Harry S Truman Scholars selected from New Hampshire in 1983.

Ms. Johnston moved to Florida in 1996 where she opened a law office in Vero Beach, Florida, and subsequently expanded her practice to include an office in Melbourne, Florida. Ms. Johnston’s office actively continued representation of individuals and corporations with respect to a wide variety of legal claims and defenses through 2010 when she sought and obtained certification from the Florida Supreme Court to serve as a Supreme Court certified mediator, and opened the Vero Beach office of the Dispute Resolution Centers of the Treasure Coast, LLC with her partner, Clinton W. Lanier.

Over the years, Ms. Johnston has been an active member of many local and international non-profit organizations and has spearheaded fundraising campaigns for many community projects, with a special emphasis on projects benefiting public schools and the underprivileged.  Kathryn can be reached at kathryn@haiticlinic.org.

Dustinn Keeling: Vice President, Director of Fundraising, Marketing, & Public Relations

Dustinn Keeling, a senior biochemistry student at the University of Florida, will be graduating magna cum laude in May of 2012. He is currently in the process of applying to medical schools, where he plans on earning both an M.D. and a P.H.D. in biochemical engineering.

Dustinn first became interested in the medical field when he was a teenager. He served over 2000 volunteer hours at the Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, FL. He volunteered in the operating room as an anesthesia technician. Dustinn first became involved with the Haiti Clinic in July of 2011 when he went to Haiti to volunteer at the clinic and was very moved by the experience.

Dustinn plans on continuing his support of the clinic as he goes through medical school, as it is a valuable learning experience that will enhance his academic pursuits. He can be reached at dustinn@haiticlinic.org.

Ruth Purcell

Ruth has been a nurse since 1968 and has worked in Hospice and Oncology for the past 25 years. She maintained certification as an Oncology Nurse from 1988 to 2000. During the 10 years while she held the position of Director of Westmoreland Hospice in Greensburg, Pennsylvania she served on the Ethics, Cancer and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committees of the Westmorland Hospital.

Ruth has served as President and Vice President of the Pennsylvania Hospice Network and currently works as a staff nurse at the Hospice House in Vero Beach, despite several unsuccessful attempts to enjoy retirement. Ruth is married to a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper and has two grown sons and four grandchildren.

Ruth has always been outraged by the willingness to accept economic inequality and has supported three organizations for many years: Heifer International, Kiva and Women for Women. Now, she is actively involved with Haiti Clinic and is extremely integral to all aspects of our logistics, especially medication and supplies for the weekly clinic as well as the monthly medical mission clinics. Ruth can be reached at ruth@haiticlinic.org.

Sam Block

Sam Block has been practicing law for over 30 years in Vero Beach, FL and has a great commitment to providing the best representation to his clients.  In addition to sharing the law practice Block, Block, & Pegler with his daughter, Katy, and nephew-in-law, Jeff Pegler, Sam spends much of his time working with many of the non-profit organizations in and around Vero Beach.  As son of Marian and Arthur Block, two of Vero’s pioneers in philanthropy, Sam is a member of the second generation of the Block family to have served and continue to serve all aspects of the Vero Beach community. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Haiti Clinic, Sam is actively involved on the Board of Directors for Dollars for Scholars, Indian River Community Foundation, and Temple Beth Shalom Foundation.  Sam was recently honored with the Pinnacle Award for Charitable Estate and Gift Planning by the Indian River Estate Planning Council. Sam can be reached at sam@haiticlinic.org.

Dirk Parvus, MD

Dr. Dirk Parvus received his MD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and Family Practice Residency at the Hershey Medical Center (Penn State) and is currently the Medical Director of the Sebastian River Medical Center Emergency Department and fthe Indian River Hospice.  During his medical training, he rotated through rural and urban clinics in South Africa, and currently assists local schools in the Sebastian area with annual sports physicals for young athletes.  Dr. Paruvs became involved in the Haiti Clinic project after he responded to a request from Mr. Elian Milliores (Koulou) of the Boston Youth Association in Cite Soleil.  He is guided by scripture that says “What you do for the least of my bothers you do for me”. Dirk resides in Vero Beach with his wife and two young children. Dr. Parvus can be reached at dirk@haiticlinic.org.

Marie Remy

Marie M. Remy was born in Port–au-Prince. Her parents are from Meyer Haiti, a small commune of Grand Goave in the south. She left Haiti at the age of 14. She completed her high school education and nursing career in NY. She now resides in St Lucie County. Marie works as a registered Nurse at St Mary’s Medical Center. Marie is very involved in her community. she is the chair of the center for health Education and Social Services, a local non-profit organization in St Lucie County engaged in doing health education in the community. She is also the chair of the Haitian Advisory Council in St Lucie County. Marie has been going to Haiti since March of 2010 and recently joined Haiti Clinic board in June of 2010. As a Haitian American , Marie is hopeful that things will change in Haiti, and is willing to help as much as she can to give back to her birthland. Maggie can be reached at marie@haiticlinic.org.

Kevin Browngoehl, MD

Kevin Browngoehl is a practicing pediatrician in Drexel Hill, Pa. He has been volunteering with Haiti Clinic since 2010. Dr. Browngoehl has been active in improving healthcare for disadvantaged groups throughout his career. He was a National Health Service Corp physician in Chester, Pa. He served as one of the first medical directors of a Medicaid managed care organization which pioneered immunization registries and outreach for disadvantaged children. He has also been a volunteer with Community volunteers in Medicine which provides free healthcare for the uninsured. Dr. Browngoehl can be reached at kevin@haiticlinic.org.

Ralph Beech

Ralph received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in accountancy from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in August 1986. He completed several semesters of post-graduate studies before moving to Vero Beach in October 1988 to join the firm of Hamilton & Company, Chartered. He passed the certified public accounting exam in November 1989 and has been a licensed CPA since April 1990. In December 1993, Ralph earned a Master of Science in Taxation from UCF. Since July 2005, Ralph has been a principal in the firm of Hickey, Collins and Beach, Chartered. His professional memberships include the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Ralph was inspired by the work that Dr. Heskel and others were doing in Haiti and gladly accepted Dr. Heskel’s invitation to become involved with the board and use his accounting knowledge to assist Haiti Clinic with its various tax related matters. He can be reached at ralph@haiticlinic.org.

Neil Heskel, MD:

Dr. Neil Heskel has practiced Dermatology in Vero Beach since 1983. He has been involved with Haiti Clinic for two years and served as Vice President last year. Dr. Heskel was elected President shortly before the earthquake. Since then it has been a major focus of his life and time. Dr. Heskel feels honored to work with our talented and dedicated board and the many volunteers and contributors with whom he comes in contact daily. After his first trip to Cité Soleil with the Haiti Clinic, he was quickly reminded of why he went to medical school.

Dr. Heskel attended Swarthmore College,where he majored in Philosophy, then later received his medical degree from University of Pennsylvania. He finished two years of Pediatric Residency at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and then completed a three-year residency in Dermatology at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Dr. Heskel can be reached at neil@haiticlinic.org.