Building Cleft Care Specialty Teams Through Talent Sharing and Giving
Experienced Consultation Services to Serve and Empower
Cleft Team Partnerships International
Who We Are
At Cleft Team Partnerships International (CTPI), we believe that patients with facial clefts receive the best support through a team approach, regardless of their location in the world. Our VISION is to enhance sustainability and excellence in cleft care by sharing experience and talent across borders. Together, we can achieve more. Our MISSION aligns with this vision by establishing long-term partnerships with clinicians and healthcare systems, aimed at building and guiding multidisciplinary cleft teams that are responsive to local realities and dedicated to providing high-quality surgical care.
About Cleft Team Partnerships International
Our Story
Cleft Team Partnerships International is a nonprofit health organization that represents over twenty years of dedicated surgical care for patients both in the U.S. and abroad. We emerged from the understanding that patients with complex craniofacial conditions, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, benefit most from a collaborative approach involving timely clinical interventions performed by experienced professionals. Throughout the past two decades, we have established ourselves as a trusted partner in cleft care, providing compassion and quality care for patients with craniofacial conditions while working alongside partners in the Philippines, Peru, and Ukraine.
Our Services
We offer experienced and expert consultation and liaison services in order to assist in establishing and guiding cleft specialty teams. We do this in partnership with governmental health agencies/ non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and clinicians, with shorter and longer term engagements based on need. Our services include: helping to identify, recruit, and train team members; connecting team members to continued education; establishing safety, outcome, and quality measures; establishing rational, evidence-based treatment protocols adaptive to local scenarios; development of, and participation in, educational symposia; fostering surgical training through observerships and mentoring programs, and more.
Our Consultants
Mark Hnatiuk, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Mark Hnatiuk, MD, FACS leads the team as a skilled and experienced craniofacial reconstructive surgeon and head and neck surgeon. He had the honor of training with the world renowned craniofacial reconstructive surgeon, Ian T. Jackson, MD. Dr. Hnatiuk not only has extensive experience as a surgeon, but also in directing and accrediting a uniquely talented multidisciplinary cleft and craniofacial team in the Detroit, MI area. He has been travelling regularly for two decades to various countries around the world to share knowledge and experience with other surgeons and caregivers for patients' benefit. He remains dedicated to expanding the highest standards of patient care and safety around the world, and especially to communities of people marginalized in various ways.
Jason Chesney, D.O.
Dr. Chesney is a native of Michigan, and is a practicing otolaryngologist. His undergraduate training was completed at the University of Michigan, followed by medical school and residency training through Michigan State University. He completed his training in cleft care and pediatric otolaryngology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has a strong interest in mission work, with a long history of cleft related surgical work in Peru and the Philippines.
Oscar Ong, C.R.N.A.
Oscar Ong was born in Davao City, Philippines, and began his medical career after graduating from the Brokenshire School of Nursing. After immigrating to metro Detroit, he earned his Master of Science in Nursing Anesthesiology from the University of Detroit Mercy. Oscar served at Providence Hospital from 1983 to 2021, working first as a surgical nurse and later as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. In 2004, he founded Operation Care Abroad (OCA), a nonprofit dedicated to providing life-changing surgical care to children and adults in Davao who otherwise could not afford treatment. Under his leadership, OCA conducted surgical missions for two decades, from 2004 to 2024, improving access to essential care and strengthening communities in need.
Helping Articulate the Vision and Mission
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
Caring for patients with cleft lip and cleft palate is a great responsibility and is a humbling endeavor. It can also be an amazing and uplifting journey for all involved. A well articulated vision statement is a beacon of light that guides the mission and orients the team.
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
The history of cleft care teaches us that the best care for our patients with cleft and craniofacial conditions is team care. When possible, we owe it to our patients to collaborate with our colleagues in addressing the complex and changing needs of our patients as they grow and develop from birth to adulthood.
Establishing the Protocol
Identifying, Recruiting and Training Key Team Members
Establishing Outcome Assessment Measures
The treatment intervention protocol is the backbone of team care. It should embody the team's vision and mission and serve to unify and coordinate the various expertise and gifts each member brings to the team. The proper protocol serves the patient by respecting growth and development, being evidence-based, and offering realistic solutions that are adaptable to changing and challenging clinical needs
Establishing Outcome Assessment Measures
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
Establishing Outcome Assessment Measures
Assessing outcomes of the various therapeutic interventions should be part of the never-ending process of optimizing patient care. Outcome assessment should help determine if therapeutic goals are being met and complications minimized, while not imposing excess burden for the patient and team.
Identifying Obstacles to Best Care
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
While the team's protocol provides a rational longitudinal plan of optimal care for patients with cleft conditions, the reality is that many patients will not be able to follow it to the letter. Identifying modifiable obstacles to optimal care should be sought and remedied.
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
Identifying, Cultivating, Allocating Resources
Caring for our patients with cleft lip and cleft palate requires resources. Well-trained team members, properly informed parents and care-givers, specialized material and organizational support all require various forms of investment, often in low-resource settings.
Current and Past Events
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Content coming soon
Washington, D.C. February 2026
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Content coming soon
Davao, Philippines, January 2026
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine: May 2026
Davao, Philippines, January 2026
Content coming soon
Moyobamba, Peru July 2025
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine May 2025
Davao, Philippines, January 2026
Content coming soom
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine May 2025
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine May 2025
Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine May 2025
Content coming soon
Our Partners
Ways to Help
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Ongoing partnership between Cleft Team Partnerships International, LEAP Global Missions, Christian Medical Association, Ed's Friends, AROMS and Okhmatdyt Hospital
Mission to Iquitos, Peru
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Ongoing effort between Cleft Team Partnerships International and compassionate, motivated local healthcare workers and leaders to provide surgical care for underserved patient populations along the Amazon River Basin.
Mission to Mindanao, Philippines
Cleft and Craniofacial Center of Excellence, Okhmatdyt Hospital, Lviv, Ukraine
Mission to Mindanao, Philippines
Collaboration between Cleft Team Partnerships International and Maharlika Charity Foundation to care for underserved patients with cleft lip and cleft palate in rural areas across the region of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.