Who We Are

Management team

Scott Hillstrom, Co-Founder
Scott is the chair of the board and co-founder of The HealthStore Foundation. Beginning in 1996, Mr. Hillstrom undertook a mission to discover why 25,000 children were dying each day—10 million per year—in the developing world while the medicine that would have saved their lives cost less than a cup of coffee. By 2000, a team had been formed who launched the first franchise clinics in Kenya under the CFW brand. Since then, 5,000,000 Kenyans have been served. Mr. Hillstrom also co-founded a franchise clinic network in Ghana, which has since been acquired by Sanford Health, America’s largest rural healthcare provider, as part of its world clinics program.

As CEO of The Healthstore Foundation, Mr. Hillstrom founded a Children and Family Wellness (CFW) clinic network in Rwanda, which grew to about 50 locations. HSF transferred the Rwanda network to One Family Health, run by Gunther Fabre, a former CEO of HSF, who secured funding from GlaxoSmithKline to further develop the network in Rwanda. Both Sanford Health and GSK have announced their intentions to invest millions of dollars to expand these networks nationwide in Ghana and Rwanda.

From 1990-1995 Mr. Hillstrom co-founded, developed, and served as managing director of Rehab One, a U.S.-based network of hospital-based medical clinics that specialized in rehabilitation medicine. Here, he first utilized the basic operational elements of franchising. He has also been an active investor, advisor, and board member to a range of businesses over the past 35 years and has been a licensed attorney in the U.S. since 1984. In 2014, Mr. Hillstrom was recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year for 2013 by the International Franchising Association for his pioneering work introducing commercial franchising business methods to deliver effective-quality care to some of the world’s poorest communities.

Scott earned his Doctor of Law (JD) from Mitchell Hamline School of Law. He lives in the Seattle area with his wife.

Eric McCarthey, Chief Executive Officer
Eric currently serves as the CEO of The HealthStore Foundation. Eric is a seasoned public, family and private board director, private equity CEO and venture capital managing partner. He is now a retired senior executive officer with the Coca-Cola Company, following a 30-year career leading several efforts including global business unit operating responsibilities, commercial and customer strategic planning, new emerging market development, new business development and leadership development.

Eric is a leadership fellow with NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) and an active board member of Interra International, Saulsbury Industries and Commerce Science Corporation.  He is also the CEO of Shelty-Viking Capital Group, a private equity holding company. Eric was past Chair in CEO Leadership Development with Vistage International, the world’s largest and most effective CEO membership organization. Eric is also a published author on sales leadership and high impact boards. Eric is a public speaker on leadership and relationship development. He earned his EMBA in international business trade and commerce from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Eric currently lives in Roswell, Georgia.

Dr Walter Obita, CEO HSEA, East Africa
Dr. Walter Obita is the chief operating officer of Healthstore East Africa, a commercial franchising organization where he is involved in strategic planning, financial management, business development and operations, franchise operating system compliance and customer, partner and government relations. He is also the managing director of Sustainable Healthcare Foundation, a Kenyan non-governmental organization that operates a franchise network of level 2, CFW-branded (for Child and Family Wellness) primary care clinics in Kenya. He oversees the continued operations of the CFW franchise network in Kenya and is the secretary to the board of directors of Sustainable Healthcare Foundation.

Dr. Obita has several years of experience in the healthcare industry at various levels, ranging from senior management, academic, and provider levels of care. He has served as a medical doctor at Machakos Level V Hospital, a district medical officer of health in Hamisi District, medical officer at AAR Nairobi and AAR Kisumu, a health center manager at AAR Eldoret, general manager at Sagam Community Hospital, managing partner at AfriHealth Consulting and is a co-founding director of Sagam Medical Centre Narok. Additionally, he serves as a board member of Fountain Health Care, a comprehensive multidisciplinary group practice hospital, and AfriHealth Consulting, a healthcare consulting firm. He is also a member of the Kenya Healthcare Foundation and the Kenya Medical Association.

Dr. Obita holds a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (MBCh.B) from the University of Nairobi, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) – strategic management from Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He has completed further studies in health economics, healthcare management and leadership. Dr. Obita currently lives Nairobi, Kenya.

Abraham O. Were, Franchise Development Manager, Africa
Abraham Orare joined HealthStore Foundation as a malaria project field officer in September 2007 and has risen through the ranks to be the franchise development manager overseeing quality assurance and standards, and field operations. He has over 15 years of experience spanning from hospital pharmacy practice, the pharmaceutical industry, project management, quality assurance and strengthening of medical facilities and community health systems development. His passion is to provide affordable effective-quality healthcare to all.

Prior to his current role he took the lead in project implementation and management of community-based health projects in the Western and Nyanza parts of Kenya.

Abraham is a registered and licensed pharmaceutical practitioner by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board; Member of the Healthcare Regulations, Quality & Standards Committee at the Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF); an external examiner at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC); member of the Association of Social Franchising for Health (ASFH); and a TOT in a health-related subjects.

He holds a diploma in pharmaceutical technology, a diploma in project management (KIM), and Bachelors and Masters degrees in community health and development from Great Lakes University. Abraham is currently based in the Nairobi office and lives in Kisumu, Kenya, with his wife and children.

Esther Nderitu, Finance Director, SHF (Sustainable Health Foundation)
Ms. Nderitu is on the senior management team of the existing nonprofit CFW franchisor in Nairobi and has worked for SHF for seven years, assuming progressively more advanced responsibilities. She has been leading the finance department since 2012. Esther currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Scott Hillstrom
Co-founder and Chairman, Healthstore Foundation

Michael Seid
Director and Founder, Michael H. Seid & Associates, LLC

Eric McCarthey
Managing Partner, Crestlight Ventures & Productions

Board Members

Mark Benson
President, APCO Insight

Kaye Kirsch
Consultant

Eva Ombaka
Coordinator, Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (Ret.)

Colin Owen
Founder and CEO, DHY Manufacturing (Ret.)

Mark Zdeblick
Co-founder and CTO, Proteus