L

Last Mile Health

Deploys government-supported community health workers

Field Program Coordinator

Full-TimePosted on 10/20/2026
$13.1k - $24.7k/yr+ 3% employer retirement match
Mid
Bachelor's, Master's
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In PersonOnsite in Addis Ababa; applicants must currently reside in Ethiopia and be authorized to work there.
Medical, Clinical & Veterinary

About the job

Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in Medicine, Nursing, or Health Officer is required.
  • A clinical background is required to safely monitor and intervene in patient consultations.
  • Demonstrated professional experience in one or more of the work areas highlighted in the job summary.
  • Native or full professional fluency in both Amharic and Afaan Oromo, including the ability to accurately transcribe and translate complex clinical terminology.
  • Demonstrated experience working within national or sub-national health systems, particularly the Health Extension Program and with Health Extension Workers.
  • Ability to clinically monitor patient consultations and safely intervene during high-risk cases.
  • Familiarity with the Community Health Information System and DHIS2.
  • Ability to navigate stakeholder dynamics involving Regional Health Bureaus and Woredas and resolve field-level operational bottlenecks.
  • Ability to work independently in the field under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
  • Knowledge management skills, including advanced use of Microsoft Office applications and Google Suite.
Responsibilities
  • Participate in developing, submitting, and obtaining approval for Institutional Review Board materials, including protocols, tools, and consent forms, and ensure research activities follow approved procedures.
  • Provide technical responses during Institutional Review Board review and manage amendments and continuations.
  • Develop, refine, and review project tools, including data collection tools, quality checklists, and supervision and follow-up checklists.
  • Manage and supervise data collection teams to ensure high-quality data collection, verification, and timely submission.
  • Review basic and reference documents used as knowledge sources and ensure alignment with the Ministry of Health program scope.
  • Recommend and communicate required reductions, amendments, and updates to documents with domain experts.
  • Rearrange reference and basic documents according to defined criteria and communicate with the Ministry of Health about updates.
  • Oversee and directly support transcription and translation of clinical consultations and AI interactions, ensuring clinical and contextual accuracy in Amharic and Afaan Oromo.
  • Translate and transcribe recorded conversations for data analysis and validation.
  • Provide human-in-the-loop feedback and training data to optimize speech-based AI models.
  • Conduct field clinical monitoring of the AI tool, reviewing live and recorded consultations for clinical accuracy, patient safety, and appropriate danger-sign detection.
  • Evaluate retrospective clinical data and provide domain-expert feedback and follow-up prompts to ensure clinical safety and accuracy of model responses.
  • Intervene clinically during AI–Health Extension Worker interactions, especially in stages 2 and 3, when the AI stalls, misinterprets data, or requires human clinical judgment to prevent patient harm.
  • Monitor call volume, user flow, and performance data from the Automated AI Call Center and HEP Assist App, and provide structured feedback to Health Extension Workers, call center agents, and the AI engineering team.
  • Conduct recorded-call quality checks to ensure compliance with Ministry of Health protocols and Health Extension Worker scope of practice.
  • Develop and manage implementation schedules, field plans, and activity timelines for the four-stage AI rollout.
  • Lead and supervise Health Extension Worker implementation of the AI tool, including app-based and feature-phone tracks, in selected woredas.
  • Conduct onsite supervision and training, provide proactive problem-solving, and ensure adherence to project and safety standards.
  • Facilitate woreda-level Health Extension Worker review meetings, capture field feedback to improve AI prompts and workflows, and follow up on logistics and payment processing.
  • Communicate regularly with Regional Health Bureaus, Zonal and Woreda Health Offices about data collection, supervision feedback, and AI implementation progress.
  • Communicate research timelines and collaboratively resolve operational and connectivity issues.
  • Prepare concise progress updates and reports for internal stakeholders and government partners.
Desired Qualifications
  • A master's degree in Public Health or a related field.
  • Prior experience implementing or monitoring digital health, telemedicine, or AI-based health interventions.
  • Experience leading field data collection for Institutional Review Board-approved operational research.
  • Experience facilitating training and capacity strengthening for adult learners, particularly Health Extension Workers.

About the company

L

Last Mile Health

View
Website

Last Mile Health is a non-profit that partners with governments to design, scale, and manage nationwide networks of professional community health workers who deliver primary care to people in hard-to-reach areas. CHWs are trained, supplied, supervised, and paid to provide essential services at the doorstep, with the Community Health Academy digital platform guiding training and clinical education. The organization embeds CHWs within government health systems and works with ministries of health in Liberia, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone to strengthen service delivery, supervision, and supply chains. Its goal is to close gaps in healthcare access by building sustainable national health workforces that improve outcomes for remote populations.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Accra, Ghana

Founded

2007

Get referred to Last Mile Health

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • The 2026 Hilton Humanitarian Prize adds $3 million unrestricted funding and global credibility.
  • Fiscal 2026 support reached 20,900 CHWs serving 32.5 million people across four countries.
  • Liberia delivered 239,010 child treatments in 2025, proving measurable clinical demand.

What critics are saying

  • Hilton prize windfall ends fast; governments still fund most operations and salaries.
  • Aid cuts and donor fatigue pressure Ethiopia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone program budgets in 2026.
  • If ministries stop paying CHWs, Last Mile Health loses its operating model and relevance.

What makes Last Mile Health unique

  • Last Mile Health co-builds national CHW systems with ministries, not parallel NGO clinics.
  • Its Africa Frontline First platform pushes domestic financing and standardized community-health workforce policy.
  • Liberia shows durable depth: every district now has paid professional CHWs.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Remote Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

8%

1 year growth

8%

2 year growth

8%
Last Mile Health
Sep 17th, 2026
Last Mile Health at the 81st United Nations General Assembly.

Last Mile Health at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. Last Mile Health will attend the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York from September 20-25, 2026. There Last Mile Health will join world leaders, coalition partners, and regional and international institutions to champion the essential contributions of community health workers to universal health coverage. Last Mile Health leadership representatives at this year's UNGA include: * Lisha McCormick, Chief Executive Officer * James Nardella, President and Chief Program Officer * Dr. Divya Nair, Chief Technical Officer * Nan Chen, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First * Dr. Mardieh Dennis, Senior Director of Technical Services FEATURED EVENTS New Capital, New Blueprint: Accelerating Development's Next Chapter Monday, September 21, 10:45-11:05 am, in-person for Concordia Annual Summit attendees Last Mile Health CEO Lisha McCormick will join this Concordia Annual Summit panel of leaders who are redefining how development gets financed and delivered, exploring which new models are already changing outcomes on the ground and what it will take to build an architecture built for the years ahead. Overcoming the triple bias: Cross-sector solutions to reach last mile communities Monday, September 21, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm, invite only for Concordia Annual Summit attendees Last Mile Health will convene cross-sector leaders for this roundtable discussion at the Concordia Annual Summit to examine proven solutions to serve the most vulnerable populations. From health to education to workforce development, what are the bright spots that ensure access and prosperity are more equitable for rural and remote communities? Education as infrastructure: How learning powers progress Monday, September 21, 4:30 - 6 pm, in-person event Dr. Mardieh Dennis, Last Mile Health Sr. Director of Technical Services in Liberia, will join speakers from One Acre Fund and Room to Read to explore how investments in learning ripple across sectors. [Register] Philanthropic Collaboration in AI and Global Health Innovation Tuesday, September 22, 10 - 11:30 am, invite only Africa Frontline First (AFF) Co-Executive Director Nan Chen will join leaders from Coefficient Giving, Google.org, Gates Foundation, and Bridgespan to explore how philanthropy can help advance responsible and equitable AI for global health. Hosted by The Bridgespan Group and Gates Foundation. Act Now, Build Forward: AI for Public Service Delivery in Africa Tuesday, September 22, 2 - 4:30 pm, in-person event Last Mile Health Chief Technical Officer Dr. Divya Nair will join this closed dialogue on the sidelines of UNGA81, hosted by IDinsight and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Speakers will discuss what governments can do with AI now, using the data they already hold, to deliver better services to citizens who need them. [Request to Join] United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Friday, September 25, 10 am - 5 pm, for organizations in consultative status with the UN Dr. Mardieh Dennis will attend the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response and submit a statement advocating for investment in professional community health workers as essential responders to emerging disease outbreaks.

HealthTech HotSpot
Aug 12th, 2026
Last Mile Health selected as the 2026 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize recipient.

Last Mile Health selected as the 2026 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize recipient. The world's largest annual humanitarian award for nonprofits is awarded to an organization providing life-saving care in the world's most remote communities. LOS ANGELES-(BUSINESS WIRE)-The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation today announced that Last Mile Health - an organization dedicated to delivering primary healthcare in the world's most remote communities - has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize and will receive $3 million in unrestricted funding. For nearly 20 years, Last Mile Health has partnered with governments to equip skilled and compassionate community health workers with the resources they need to provide essential primary healthcare to remote communities that otherwise lack access - so-called "last mile" communities. Today, the organization partners with governments to support more than 20,000 professional community health workers who provide primary care to over 32 million people across Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone. Last Mile Health was chosen through the same deliberative process that has defined the Hilton Humanitarian Prize for over three decades. The following individuals served on the 2026 Hilton Humanitarian Prize Jury: The Right Honorable Helen Clark, Leymah Gbowee, Conrad N. Hilton III, Sister Joyce Meyer, Her Majesty Queen Noor, Kennedy Odede, Zainab Salbi, and Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León. "Last Mile Health's work embodies Conrad N. Hilton's enduring belief that improving the human condition is our shared responsibility," said Peter Laugharn, President and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. "Across Africa, Last Mile Health's work is ensuring that care reaches millions of people who have historically been left behind. These are neighbors caring for neighbors and communities building stronger systems from within. We are proud to shine a spotlight on Last Mile Health's extraordinary work and its contributions to advancing human progress." At a moment when reductions in global aid are straining under-resourced health systems, Last Mile Health's model offers a powerful example of how countries can strengthen access to care through local health workers. An estimated two billion people live in remote communities outside the reach of healthcare, contributing to unacceptably high rates of maternal and child mortality. The consequences of these gaps become even more urgent during public health emergencies, including the recent Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. While Last Mile Health does not work directly in these countries, the challenges in the region underscore the need for trusted, well-supported community health workers as the foundation of resilient health systems. Last Mile Health's work is urgently important in times of crisis and calm. "We are deeply honored to receive the Hilton Humanitarian Prize on behalf of the Last Mile Health team, including the community health workers who make this work possible," said Lisha McCormick, CEO of Last Mile Health. "This recognition affirms a simple but powerful idea: where someone lives should not determine whether they receive healthcare. In partnership with local communities and governments, we are helping shift how healthcare is delivered and financed across Africa, working to ensure that access to quality primary healthcare is universal." Last Mile Health was founded nearly 20 years ago with the belief that strong health systems must begin at the community level. Professional community health workers can save as many as three million lives globally each year, while improving outcomes for mothers and young children. Their impact extends beyond healthcare, providing paid jobs, helping families invest in their children's education, and opening new opportunities for the next generation. "Anyone who has watched a loved one fall ill knows the lengths they would go to get care. For too many, that means making perilous journeys just to find the nearest clinic," McCormick said. "Last Mile Health believes that everyone, everywhere deserves care, and the Hilton Humanitarian Prize funding will help us accelerate a continent-wide shift in how healthcare is delivered and financed, bringing quality care within reach of millions more people." Since 1996, the Prize has awarded over $50 million to 31 nonprofit organizations around the globe. The 2026 Prize Ceremony honoring Last Mile Health will take place on October 6, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. Nominations for the Hilton Humanitarian Prize are open year-round. About the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Founded by international hotelier Conrad N. Hilton in 1944, the Foundation invests in organizations tackling some of the world's toughest challenges, helping people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage. HealthTech HotSpot LLC think big about solutions, working in partnership with local communities to improve lives, strengthen systems, and bring meaningful change. The Foundation partners with organizations worldwide, with a special focus on Africa, South America, and the United States, including its home in Los Angeles. Additionally, the Foundation awards the world's largest annual humanitarian prize for nonprofits - the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. For more than 30 years, the Prize has recognized nonprofit organizations setting a global benchmark for excellence and advancing the collective progress of humanity. The Foundation is one of the world's largest and has awarded grants to date totaling more than $4 billion, with nearly $353 million in 2025. Please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org for more information. About Last Mile Health Last Mile Health partners with governments to build strong community health systems that equip professional community health workers to provide primary healthcare in the world's most remote communities. The organization works side-by-side with Ministries of Health in Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone, and has supported more than 30,000 community health workers serving over 52 million people. They also co-founded Africa Frontline First, a continent-wide initiative to drive smarter, more effective financing for community health. Please visit www.lastmilehealth.org for more information.

NPR
Aug 12th, 2026
Wedding fundraiser's $6K grows into $3M prize-winning global health nonprofit

Dr Raj Panjabi co-founded Last Mile Health in 2007 with $6,000 raised from his wedding guests to bring healthcare to remote areas of Liberia. The organisation has now won the Conrad H. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, receiving $3 million. Last Mile Health trains community health workers with primary school education to diagnose and treat preventable diseases, assist pregnant mothers, and monitor disease outbreaks. The initial funding paid for 17 workers. Today, the organisation supports 20,000 community health workers serving 32 million people across Liberia, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone. During the Ebola epidemic, Last Mile Health trained over 1,300 workers to contain the outbreak. In the COVID-19 pandemic, they delivered 6.2 million pieces of protective equipment and helped Liberia achieve an 81% vaccination rate.

WDiy
Aug 12th, 2026
His wedding guests gave $6k to fund a health startup. Now it's won a $3 million prize.

His wedding guests gave $6k to fund a health startup. Now it's won a $3 million prize. NPR | By Diane Cole Published August 12, 2026 at 9:00 AM EDT In 2007, Dr. Raj Panjabi, a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, traveled to Liberia, where he was born. He had just been married and brought the $6,000 he had raised from wedding guests to help co-found a health initiative to provide care to those who lived in the country's most remote, inaccessible regions. The organization's name, Last Mile Health (LMH), reflected its mission: the belief that no one should be beyond the reach of life-saving medical help. Today, Last Mile Health is receiving an honor that comes with a $3 million gift. It's the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world's largest humanitarian award to a nonprofit group. It's a resounding affirmation of how a group that started very small can go on to, according to the Hilton honor announcement, make extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. But how did they reach that last mile, when physicians, nurses and medical supplies were, if available at all, scarce and far away? By using community health workers. These are individuals who typically have a primary school education. During their eight weeks of training, they learn to diagnose and treat preventable diseases in children, including malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea, as well as help pregnant mothers develop a birth plan to deliver in the clinics. The health workers are also trained to monitor any signs of new diseases or outbreaks. The initial $6,000 raised to start the organization served to pay the organization's first 17 workers. Since then, the group has expanded its scope with funding from governments as well as philanthropic and nonprofit institutions. In 2010, LMH began caring for HIV/AIDS patients in 12 of Liberia's 15 counties, partnering with the Government of Liberia and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. During the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic in Liberia, LMH trained more than 1,300 community health workers to help contain the outbreak's spread. During the COVID-19 pandemic, LMH delivered 6.2 million pieces of personal protective equipment. Going door to door to persuade people to get vaccinated, they helped lead Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world, to an 81% vaccination rate. Today, LMH supports 20,000 community health workers helping 32 million people not only in Liberia but in Ethiopia, Malawi and Sierra Leone. The nonprofit group has helped design a digital training program as well. But many people who live in remote areas struggle to find medical services, points out LMH chief executive officer Lisha McCormick. "Last Mile Health's work feels especially pressing today," Peter Laugharn, president and CEO of the Hilton Foundation, said in a statement. "Health systems in the hardest-to-reach regions still face enormous strain, and Last Mile Health has met that challenge head-on." Panjabi, who is now president emeritus of LMH, agrees. "We are at an unprecedented moment in global health," he says, citing projections that there could be millions more deaths by 2030 if current funding trends continue, with major reductions by the United States as well as some European countries. The projections come from a study published in Lancet, which found that U.S. foreign aid cuts in the year 2025 could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under five. "Everyone wants to cut healthcare costs," he continues. "We cannot cut funds without cutting care, unless you get ahead of the disease. One of the most effective ways to get ahead of disease is to detect it at the earliest possible time. And community health workers are part of the answer." Research exists to back the contention that beyond saving lives, community health workers also save money. A 2025 analysis of 255 studies published in SSRN, a platform for researchers from academia and, in this case, members of leading health groups like the Clinton initiative, found that more than 80% of the time, these professionals delivered care at a median cost of just $0.59 per person per year. "Overall, a decade of data shows that CHWs [community health workers] are a proven, cost-effective platform for primary health care," the paper's authors concluded. That achievement is reflected in the experience of Genesis Whegelee, who has worked as a community health worker in Rivercess County, Liberia, since 2018. "There was a lot of malaria, and we didn't know why children were dying in the community," he says. "Now everyone is getting [medical] attention." Whegelee is responsible for visiting 42 households - three a day in rotation - to assess their healthcare needs. He carries a small bag of medications and what the group calls a "job aid" - essentially a medical textbook he can consult as he tracks the health and well-being of each family. These visits include checking to see if there are any ill children or newly pregnant women, along with education about mosquito nets and sanitation. They account for about four hours each day. He is on call at his home the rest of the day not only doing necessary planning and paperwork but also available for emergency calls and visits. He tells of a mother who carried her 22-month old baby from her farm to his home for an emergency visit, crying that her child was dying. "The baby was weak and feverish," Whegelee says. He gave the baby a sponge bath to bring down the fever and gave a rapid diagnostic test to see if the baby had malaria, which was the case. He then started the baby on two medications to treat it, one for malaria and the other to control the fever, and taught the mother how to continue the medication. He made follow-up visits to the child's home every day for the next five days. If the child had not improved, Whegelee would have referred her to a clinic. But in this case, "the child was better, and the mother is so happy that whenever I visit now the mother gives me a hug," Whegelee says. Shortly before he spoke to NPR, Whegelee did have to take a child to a clinic. "The child was vomiting and had diarrhea and could not keep anything down. We were taught that is a dangerous sign. That cannot be treated at home. You cannot delay," he says. On another occasion, he had to persuade a pregnant woman that she should deliver the baby at the hospital rather than at home in case there were complications. At first the husband was skeptical; he thought people got sick at the hospital. Whegelee succeeded in convincing the dad as well as the mom. She had trusted his advice, and the father was happy. In the routine family visits that followed, he encouraged breastfeeding and vaccines for the baby. Such stories give support to Panjabi's belief that "The first line of contact to the health care system is often the community health worker, the neighbor trained to be one." As for the Hilton Foundation grant, he said, "We will put the money to work immediately in the countries we currently work in now," with the goal of reaching 50 million people there by 2028. LMH will also continue to work with the continent-wide initiative it co-founded, Africa Frontline First, to introduce and implement community health worker programs to additional communities and countries. "The community health worker model is not new, but LMH is helping professionalize them. They are not volunteers but front-line practitioners who provide diagnostic and curative services," McCormick says. She, like Panjabi, is fond of saying "Illness is universal, and access to health care is not." That is why LMH exists, she adds, "to put a health worker in reach of everyone, everywhere." Diane Cole writes for many publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She is the author of the memoir After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges. Her website is DianeJoyceCole.com

Last Mile Health
Oct 1st, 2024
Last Mile Health celebrates Marion Subah's tenure as Liberia Country Director and welcomes Brittney Varpilah to the role

Marion joined Last Mile Health in 2019, overseeing its largest country program's growth over the past five years, including navigating the country's response to COVID-19.