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Lean Healthcare Practitioners
Charles Hagood
President and Founder
Charles has overseen the introduction and implementation of Lean Healthcare systems in numerous healthcare organizations including some of the largest non-profit hospitals, national systems, small critical access hospitals, clinics, physician practices, and large for-profit systems. Charles is a frequent speaker on the subject of process improvement, and leads HPP’s annual National Lean Healthcare Conference.
HPP is one of the few organizations that have successfully translated Lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System (TPS) to the healthcare industry.
Charles is also the founder of Lean Healthcare Exchange, the top ranked web site by Google, serving as the site for all things Lean, Quality, and Efficiency in Healthcare.
Charles was also a founding Principal and past CEO of The Access Group, LLC (TAG), a 50 person Engineering and Manufacturing firm headquartered in Nashville. Charles has worked with Fortune 100 companies throughout the world (GE, Tyco, Frigidaire, American Greetings, Cessna, Nissan and many others) in their Lean transformation and process improvement initiatives. In Architectural Design, Charles has also overseen the application of Lean/TPS methodologies into the planning, design, and construction phases of a wide range of clinical and hospital renovation and construction projects as Founder and former Managing Principal of TAG Design Services, LLC.
Charles received his M.B.A. from Belmont University's Massey School of Business and is the founding faculty member of the Belmont University Lean Healthcare Certificate Program.
Dave Munch, M.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
Dave serves as the lead of all of HPP’s clinical and Lean Healthcare engagements.
Dave previously served at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center as their Chief Clinical and Quality Officer. He led their Lean Production applications for more than five years, resulting in substantial improvements in both clinical and non-clinical processes.
Dave has been a frequent speaker on the subject of leadership effectiveness and Lean transformation for a number of healthcare organizations including Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), The University of Rochester Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Health System, Tulane University Medical Center, Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), and the Voluntary Hospital Association (VHA).
Dave has served on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's High Reliability Advisory Group, has an extensive background in hospital operations, health plan governance, physician organization governance and clinical practice in Internal Medicine.
Dave received his M.D. from the University of Colorado’s Health Sciences Center. He is also a faculty member for the Belmont University Lean Healthcare Certificate Program.
Teresa Carpenter, RN
Director of Lean Clinical and Facility Design
Teresa brings a unique perspective to lean healthcare as a registered nurse with extensive architectural design and facilities planning experience as well as move-in expertise.
Teresa assists hospitals and healthcare systems in all aspects of applying Lean to the master plan, design, and operational aspects of a facility design or clinical expansion. Teresa serves as an educator, advisor, advocate, and interpreter for Lean healthcare integration into a wide range of clinical and hospital design, renovation, construction, and move-in projects.
Following more than 12 years in acute care, Teresa transitioned to clinical operations coordinator for an internationally recognized leader in healthcare architectural design. Among her project experience, she was the lead planner on the nationally recognized St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend, Wisconsin, the world’s first hospital designed to reduce medical error.
Teresa holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the College of Charleston, and a B.S. in Nursing from Trident College in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jay Conner, Ph.D.
Consultant
Jay has more than 30 years of experience in communications, human resources, and human resources development. He has worked in both higher education and in the private sector.
For many years he was a partner with the management consulting group Conner, Gering & Associates and a Business Development Partner and Executive Coach with Athena. Jay has experience in a number of industries including healthcare, software development, wholesale building supplies, food service, retail food distribution, transportation and third party logistics. He has consulted in training and development, executive and managerial coaching, recruiting and hiring, employee relations, performance management, compensation, employment law compliance and employee manuals and handbooks.
Jay has worked as Director of Management Development for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and as Director of Human Resources for Ryder System. He was Vice President of Human Resources for the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and VP of HR for Urology Healthcare Group, a physician management company based in Nashville.
Jay holds a B.A. from Georgetown College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communications from LSU.
Joe Crist
Senior Manager
For the past 17 years, Joe’s work has focused on operational improvements through lean transformations throughout North America and Europe. Prior to joining Healthcare Performance Partners, he worked across a variety of industries in multiple leadership roles from the front line to the executive leadership team.
Joe’s healthcare roles have spanned from external consultant and internal consultant to director of workflow management. His client hospitals have included critical access, community, regional, and large teaching healthcare organizations. The focus of his work has centered around improving patient flow, access, quality, and satisfaction scores, and lean design of three hospitals, two labs, and three inpatient units.
Joe completed his undergraduate degree at University of New York where he received a B.S. in Engineering and Philosophy. Additionally, Joe earned his Masters in Human Resources/Training and Development focused on Business Improvements/Balance Sheets from Webster University.
Jack Datz
Executive Director
Jack has a 20-year successful track record in healthcare consulting, industry management and leadership experience. He has successfully implemented many programs that focus on process efficiency, management development, and patient satisfaction in clinical and non-clinical settings.
He consults with the nation’s leading healthcare systems and hospitals and is recognized nationally as a change leader with extensive background in turning healthcare organizations into best-in-class operations, cost and quality. He has extensive experience in the implementation of process transformation, Lean and Continuous Improvement.
Before joining HPP, Jack worked for Ernst and Young LLP, General Electric and West Hudson. Jack’s experience also includes Chief Operating Officer for a privately held company; he was responsible for significantly growing EBITDA through the creation of a Six Sigma quality and culture.
Jack received his B.A. from University of Northern Colorado. Additionally, he is trained in GE leadership and is certified from GE as a Six Sigma black belt.
Ronnie Daughtry
Director
Ronnie has more than 20 years of professional leadership and management experience deploying Lean and Six Sigma principles and concepts. Ronnie has recently added value to multiple HPP transformational and design projects.
Before joining HPP, Ronnie was Vice President over supply chain consulting for TranSystems Company. Ronnie has also served as Director of Operations for The ACCESS Group (TAG) and he also spent 17 years with the Robert Bosch Corporation holding various leadership and managerial roles in lean, quality, and operations. He is also well versed in Strategy Deployment and Six Sigma Problem Solving at the Black Belt level.
Ronnie holds a Master’s in Management and Organizational Development and a Bachelor’s in Management and Human Relations from Trevecca Nazarene University.
John DeVries
Senior Manager
John has more than 30 years experience in Lean Healthcare, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, and Productivity Improvement.
As a Master Black Belt and deployment leader, John has led Lean and Six Sigma skills transfers to a large organizations resulting in widespread, breakthrough, strategic improvements. At one client, engaged and empowered workforce completed more than 400 documented, commendable improvement projects with more than 2,800 formally recognized team members. Clinical quality, service level, workforce and patient engagement, and financial performance metrics validated substantial, sustained gains.
As a Master Black Belt and deployment leader, John has led Lean and Six Sigma skills transfers to a large organizations resulting in widespread, breakthrough, strategic improvements. At one client, engaged and empowered workforce completed more than 400 documented, commendable improvement projects with more than 2,800 formally recognized team members. Clinical quality, service level, workforce and patient engagement, and financial performance metrics validated substantial, sustained gains.
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Additionally, he has completed the GE Healthcare Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Development Program.
Janet Dozier
Senior Manager
Janet has twenty years of process improvement experience in healthcare and manufacturing.
Prior to joining HPP, she was an operational excellence consultant for a large east coast multi-hospital system where she was responsible for leading process improvement initiatives and Lean facilitation. In her role she led the lean transformation efforts in various areas of the organization including clinical, non-clinical, and business operations of the hospital. Prior to her work in the healthcare industry, Janet was in the automotive industry for ten years where she was a lead instructor of Lean Principles for the Ford Production System (modeled after the well-known Toyota Production System) and worked in various industrial engineering and process improvement roles. While at Ford, she obtained certification as a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Janet received her Master's Degree in Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Linda Duvall
Senior Manager
Linda leads Lean Healthcare transformation engagements for HPP. She has nearly 30 years of experience in business leadership, program management and lean transformation. Prior to joining HPP, she worked for Vanguard Health Systems as a process improvement specialist providing leadership and support for regional and hospital level process improvement teams.
While working for Vanguard Health Systems, Linda was the lead support for a company-wide Perioperative initiative that created a common set of metrics for all hospitals and developed a surgical services forum to discuss issues and share best practices. She facilitated the development of a week-long “Lean Practitioner” training course and assisted in training approximately 50 employees across they system. Linda facilitated several hospital-level OR project teams through Kaizen events, significantly improving bariatric supply costs, room turn-around-time and on-time starts.
Linda has also held senior management roles at Whirlpool Corporations as a lean director, operations director and senior program manager. Linda was a member of the corporate Lean transition team that developed the Lean transformation process for the company’s North American Manufacturing Operations. She led the Lean transformation at the 2,300-employee LaVergne, Tenn. Division. She facilitated many Kaizen events including the initial class for each tool while training others to facilitate events.
She received her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the Volunteer State Community College. While at Whirlpool she received many quality and leadership certificates including a Lean Champion Certificate and Program Management Professional Certificate.
Linda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Evansville.
Aaron Fausz, Ph.D.
Senior Manager
With twenty years of experience helping organizations align/improve their personnel and technical systems to accomplish strategic business objectives, Aaron has consulted with leading healthcare organizations across the country, including The Everett Clinic, Henry Ford Health System, Inova Health System, Maimonides Medical Center, University of Texas Medical Branch, and the Westchester Medical Center. He has proven success guiding organizations through strategically driven changes and enhancing business performance, and has significant experience in needs assessment, best practice analysis, performance measurement, process improvement, and behavioral change management.
Aaron also has extensive experience in the implementation of workforce management solutions to reduce costs, as well as in coaching the C-Suite in various implementation strategies. Prior to joining HPP, Aaron worked for Kronos, Aetna, and Executive Learning in support of various change management, organizational development, workforce management, and process improvement initiatives.
He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Tennessee with a minor in Industrial Engineering.
Matt Hanrion
Senior Manager
Matt is a lead trainer for HPP and provides consulting services in a variety of areas within healthcare.
Matt has more than 30 years experience with Lean and more than 13 years experience in applying process improvement and Lean to Healthcare. He has worked with organizations such as Provena Health System, United Samaritans Medical Center, and Carle Clinic & Hospital Association. He has coordinated TQM teams within every area of a hospital system, developing and rolling out TQM education to staff. He was the start-up director of the Lean Process Improvement department in a hospital in central Illinois, developing and delivering Lean education for all staff, leadership, and Lean teams.
Matt’s prior experience includes serving as a Director of Lean Continuous Process Improvement, TQM Coordinator, Project Manager, Education Specialist, and many other varied roles.
Matt has a B.A. from Westminster University with a double major in Computer Science and Biblical Studies, and a M. Ed. in Education from Columbia International University.
In addition, Matt served in the US Pacific Naval Submarine Fleet as a Missile Launch Systems Petty Officer and is a Vietnam Veteran.
W. Terry Howell, Ed.D
Senior Vice President
Terry has 30 years of healthcare leadership experience with a focus on performance improvement, patient experience, quality improvement, and strategic planning.
Before joining HPP, Terry served as Chief Quality Officer at a large academic medical center in Minneapolis where he was responsible for oversight and coordination ofPerformance Improvement, Patient Experience, Clinical Risk, Safety, Accreditation and Organization-wide Planning. Prior to that, he was Vice President for Performance Improvement at a healthcare system in Southern California with similar responsibilities. Further, he served asPresident of Executive Learning, Inc., a healthcare consulting firmspecializing in Performance Improvement, Planning and Customer Service.
He received a Doctorate of Education degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Tennessee followed by post-doctoral work in Organizational Development. He served on the faculty of the Institute of Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHI), the Healthcare Quality Improvement National Demonstration Project and taught graduate courses in Tulane University’s International Medical Management program.
Michael Kellner
Director
With more than 30 years of experience, Michael has optimized organizations’ delivery systems through Lean, Six Sigma and continuous quality improvement methodologies. He brings a unique perspective to healthcare organizations, having delivered real world results to other organizations that focus and deliver on quality, efficiency and long term sustainment.
Michael has led lean transformations in the private, Military (Office of Surgeon General), and Healthcare sectors. He was trained in the Toyota Production System at Toyota Motor Corporation and Motorola Incorporated and began his first Lean business transformation as plant manager with Arvin Ride Control. While At Arvin he led the transformation of the production, engineering, finance and management systems. Michael has also held senior leadership roles with Johnson Controls, Tenneco Automotive, and Warner Electronics as Plant Manager and Vice President of Operations of multi site operations.
Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology from Tennessee Technological University. He also holds a Senior Sensei and Master Black Belt Certification. He served with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.
William “Bill” Kirkwood, Ph.D.
Director
Bill has 30 years healthcare leadership experience in both system and individual hospital settings in the Mid-West and North-East, and oversight of change management activities and Lean Transformation engagements. This experience includes serving in an executive capacity in Quality, Operations and Human Resources. Of note is his role in developing change management strategies utilizing the implementation of quality management systems for System leaders.
He holds a Masters in Health Administration from Xavier University and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Organizational Behavior from the Union Institute and University. He has presented at several national conferences including Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Organizational Development Network and American Society for Quality.
Dave Krebs, P.E.
Consultant
Dave is a licensed engineer who has worked with hospitals of all sizes during the past decade, bringing nearly 30 years of Lean experience in the Lean-intensive automotive industry to the healthcare industry. Dave has successfully overseen Lean implementation both for profit and not-for-profit health systems with a number of HPP’s clients.
David has held positions such as president, plant manager, director of product planning and program management, product manager, senior engineer, project engineer, and senior staff engineer. David has worked with companies such as BJKC-Americas Corporation, AlliedSignal/Bosch and AlliedSignal, a leader in the Six Sigma initiative throughout the world.
Dave received his B.S. in Engineering from the University of Detroit, and received his M.B.A. from Notre Dame.
Marshall Leslie
Vice President of Business Operations
Marshall has overseen numerous Lean Healthcare client engagements throughout the U.S. Marshall also oversees all project management, resource management, and internal improvement at HPP.
Marshall has led cross-functional Lean and Six Sigma teams in North America and Europe with a track record of delivering process improvements and bottom line results. In addition, he brings a strong Lean background coupled with experience in Kaizen facilitation, Lean Enterprise implementation and Six Sigma application. Marshall worked side by side with former Toyota Japanese Senseis in identifying, developing solutions, and overseeing implementation of waste reducing systems and much improved processes throughout value streams. Marshall's expertise in both Six Sigma and Lean enables him to apply a broad spectrum of process improvement tools tailored to the healthcare industry's needs.
As a former multiple year "top-ten percent" performer at General Electric, Marshall brings clients the much needed tools and techniques needed in healthcare. Marshall has experience in various supply chain capacities including quality engineering and global sourcing for both GE and Procter & Gamble.
He holds a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech and received his M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.
Dan Littlefield
Director
Dan has 30 years of healthcare experience in many clinical and leadership roles. He leads Lean and process improvement consulting engagements for HPP.
His prior experience includes serving as a Senior Consultant and Pharmacy Services Leader for ValuMetrix Services deploying Lean in hospitals across numerous healthcare disciplines including Imaging, Laboratory, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Physician Offices successfully delivering process improvements and bottom-line results.
Dan was trained in Lean at Cardinal Health and began his first Lean business transformation as Director of Operational Excellence Deployment responsible for implementing Lean throughout Cardinal’s nuclear pharmacy business where he led numerous projects in cross functional areas including pharmacy operations, warehousing, IT, and finance resulting in more than $3M in financial benefit.
He began his healthcare career in retail pharmacy and earned a specialty certification in nuclear pharmacy. As a nuclear pharmacist, he was responsible for providing radiopharmaceuticals and consulting services to physicians and hospitals. He advanced to pharmacy manager and then to director of operations, responsible for 13 facilities and 300 employees as well as financial performance. He also enjoys teaching lean concepts and has been a featured speaker at a variety of healthcare industry events.
Dan holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from Purdue University and a Specialty Certification in Nuclear Pharmacy from Butler University.
Ken Lowe
Director
Ken works with hospitals, clinics, and healthcare related organizations with their improvement activities.
Before HPP, Ken had nearly 30 years of experience in manufacturing, including 16 years in the automotive industry. He has a proven background to be a change agent, utilizing business metrics to analyze and develop lean strategies that address the voice of the customer.
Before HPP, Ken had nearly 30 years of experience in manufacturing, including 16 years in the automotive industry. He has a proven background to be a change agent, utilizing business metrics to analyze and develop lean strategies that address the voice of the customer.
His professional experience includes successfully leading operations in various roles to include Controller, Materials Manager, Operations Manager and Plant Manager. He was introduced to Lean Methodology while working with Johnson Controls, a lead supplier for Toyota, where he was Champion of Lean Implementation at his plant. Ken most recently worked with Cummins Filtration where he teamed up to lead the adoption of Lean Methodology in manufacturing plants worldwide.
Ken has a B.S. in Finance from Bethel College. He has completed Six Sigma Green Belt - DMAIC training.
Alex Maldonado
Senior Manager
Alex leads Lean Healthcare initiatives with clients across the country. He has had a successful track record in improving results-driven processes with an emphasis in personnel training, project leadership, and operating systems designed to improve customer service and sustainability.
Before joining HPP, Alex’s professional experience included process improvement, operations and leadership positions in the healthcare medical delivery systems industry with Baxter Healthcare and appliance manufacturing with Whirlpool. He has led the development and implementation of processes to support Lean initiatives that reduce critical path lead-time, reduce expediting costs, capital improvement projects, inventory reduction, and trained and educated staff and employees in Lean methodologies.
He has a B.S. in Industrial Technology Engineering from Mississippi State University and is also a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Rick Morrow
Executive Director, Quality and Reliability Services
Rick has 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare and other industries as a leader in performance improvement and safety.
He leads HPP client engagements in the U.S. and Europe. Rick is leading development of HPP’s services targeted at helping healthcare successfully navigate elements of American healthcare reform. He is an international speaker on Lean and Six Sigma at conferences including NPSF, ASC and ASQ. Rick is a contributing editor on safety publications.
He leads HPP client engagements in the U.S. and Europe. Rick is leading development of HPP’s services targeted at helping healthcare successfully navigate elements of American healthcare reform. He is an international speaker on Lean and Six Sigma at conferences including NPSF, ASC and ASQ. Rick is a contributing editor on safety publications.
Prior to HPP, Rick was the Director of Business Excellence with The Joint Commission and led the Center for Transforming Healthcare. He led the collaboration with leading organizations successful in improving hand hygiene and reducing wrong site surgery. Rick has also held senior level Continuous Improvement positions with United Airlines, Motorola, SKF and Eaton.
Rick holds an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois’ Executive Program. He is a certified Master Black Belt.
Blair Nickle
Executive Director
For over 20 years Blair has dedicated her career to the improvement of processes, quality, safety, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, physician satisfaction, and financial vitality in healthcare organizations. She has consulted with hospitals, integrated health systems, physician group practices, payer organizations, and pharmaceutical companies across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Her content areas of expertise include performance measurement and improvement methodologies, information systems implementation, strategic planning and deployment, project management, and human resource development.
Most recently Blair has assisted large healthcare organizations in creating the systems to meet criteria for meaningful use of electronic medical records, to implement the patient centered medical home model (PCMH) and to prepare to become accountable care organizations (ACO).
Blair holds both a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science degree from the University of Tennessee. Her undergraduate work was performed at Emory & Henry College.
Marilyn Petersen, RN
Senior Associate
Marilyn has nearly 40 years of clinical practice and nursing leadership experience. She leads Lean Healthcare transformations and client training for HPP across the U.S. Marilyn's broad clinical experience, executive leadership and proven record in process redesign provide valuable expertise to the application of Lean principles in healthcare.
The first 15 years of her nursing career included clinical practice in critical care, obstetrics, emergency medicine, inpatient rehab, medical - surgical nursing and peri-operative services. Marilyn's leadership roles began in acute and non-acute healthcare, coordinating JCAHO survey readiness, Director of Risk Management, case management, medical staff quality improvement and house-wide CQI. Her executive roles include Compliance Officer, Quality Improvement Officer and Chief Nursing Officer.
Before joining HPP, she spent eight years as a consultant with VHA, a healthcare alliance of more than 2,300 healthcare organizations across the country. The focus of her work was in operational assessment and process redesign for teaching and non-teaching hospitals.
Marilyn holds an M.S. in Nursing Administration and Adult Health from Andrews University. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.
Dave Pickens, Ph.D. (Pending)
Consultant
Dave brings almost 20 years of engineering, quality engineering, and Lean experience to HPP. He has been instrumental in helping healthcare organizations apply and integrate Lean Healthcare and Six Sigma principles into their healthcare organizations. Dave has been responsible for leading teams in the reduction of waste and processing time in clinical departments as well as other types of Lean Healthcare client engagements.
Dave worked for a number of years with Allied Signal, a world leader and pioneer in developing Six Sigma techniques and applications. Dave is a proven professional that provides training, Lean Healthcare and Kaizen event facilitation, as well as Six Sigma and Master Black Belt support for healthcare and clinical organizations.
Dave has a B.S. and M.S. Degree in Statistics from the University of Tennessee and is a Ph.D. candidate. He is also a Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
Benjamin Riley
Consultant
Ben has 5 years experience with both engineering and process improvement projects across different platforms. His experience ranges from improving the average length of stay in Same Day Surgery units to inventory modeling in automotive manufacturing. Most recently he has gained other healthcare experience ranging from patient flow, hospital operations, and supply chain logistics.
At Healthcare Performance Partners, Ben works primarily in healthcare lean led design revolving around new construction and move-in services, focusing his effort towards improving work flow and documenting new standards for clients. His in-depth use of simulation, optimization, resource utilization, and sensitivity analysis has provided an understanding of the need for evidence based results to bring about change in organizations.
Ben earned his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and his Masters in Industrial Engineering from University of Arkansas.
Bradley Schultz
Vice President
Brad serves as a Lean Healthcare facilitator, business consultant, and executive coach internationally with HPP. He leads development and delivery of HPP’s next-level Strategic Integration services.
Before joining HPP, Brad was serving as Vice President of Operations & Quality for Infinity Resources, where he pioneered performance improvement in the retail market sector. Brad began his career in manufacturing, joining GE’s Performance Solutions. During that period he provided significant leadership to adapt the firm’s products and materials to the unique needs of healthcare clients.
Brad’s educational background includes a B.S. in Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Post Graduate Certification in Quality Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering, a M.A. in Business Administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification from General Electric, and Front-Line Leadership Development Certification from Achieve Global.
Tom Stoffel
Vice President
With nearly 15 years of continuous improvement experience, Tom oversees all Lean demonstration and development engagements for HPP. He has led healthcare organizations in both the development of high-level Lean Strategies down to hands-on implementation of Lean in a clinical setting. Tom has developed an excellent working knowledge of Lean practices and principles by working with a diverse client base of all sizes and prominence.
Before joining HPP, Tom Stoffel served as President of Transformation Group, Inc, Tom developed TGI Healing Healthcare, a brand of Lean Healthcare training tools designed to make lasting improvements.
Tom earned a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Michigan and has achieved the levels of Certified Lean Specialist from the Business Improvement Group and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), along with being an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer. His training background includes Lean, Quality, and Leadership Training, as well as serving as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Waubonsee Community College.
Maureen Sullivan, RN
Senior Manager
Maureen has nearly 30 years of experience in Lean Healthcare, clinical nursing, management and quality leadership. Maureen is skilled in coaching Lean principles at all levels of an organization, integrating strategic planning, best practices and process improvement.
As a registered nurse, Maureen's clinical experience is in medical surgical nursing with progressive responsibilities in nursing management at the front line, middle management, and administrative levels. Maureen is passionate about improving processes so that front line staff consistently meet and exceed the patients' needs.
Prior to joining HPP, Maureen served as the director of lean and quality improvement for Exempla Lutheran Medical Center. She successfully led the implementation of Lutheran's Lean production system for more than five years, demonstrating improvements in clinical quality, employee engagement, and financial stewardship.
Maureen began her quality management career coordinating, facilitating and managing improvement and accreditation programs at a departmental, site and system level within Exempla Healthcare.
Maureen's nursing education includes a B.S. in nursing with an emphasis in healthcare management from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado. Maureen achieved certification from National Association for Healthcare Quality and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ).
Steve Taninecz
Director
Steve leads Lean Healthcare transformation engagements for HPP. He has nearly 40 years of experience in healthcare and manufacturing organizations.
Prior to HPP, Steve’s experience includes work for the MetroWest Medical Center, counseling and coaching culture change to the hospital system’s leadership for successful implementation of lean. He also was an educator, trainer and coach for the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) teaching lean principles to hospitals and other organizations. Prior to that he spent ten years with General Motors.
Steve is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and is a Certified Quality Manager (CQM), Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) Certified Quality Technician (CQT). Steve holds a Bachelors Degree from Youngstown State University in Industrial Management and a Masters Degree in Organization Leadership from Geneva College.
Richard Tucker
Vice President
Richard has served as a coach, facilitator, and project manager for healthcare clients in the training and implementation of Lean Healthcare tools and methodologies. He oversees HPP’s training services and methodology, ensuring they are integrated seamlessly throughout HPP’s work.
In addition to his ongoing support of healthcare organizations in their lean journey, Richard is a founding faculty member of Belmont University’s Lean Healthcare Certificate Course. Prior to joining HPP, Richard had more than 16 years of business and industry experience in operational and leadership positions.
Richard’s educational background includes B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. Richard has attended formal training courses in Lean Manufacturing, Leadership Development, and Shainin Statistical Problem Solving in Japan, where he spent a great deal of time learning Lean and Quality Methodologies.
Thomas Wallen, AIA, ACHA
Vice President, Lean Facilities Solutions
Tom serves as the leader of HPP’s Lean Facilities Solutions group, which applies Lean methodologies to healthcare design and construction projects to develop safer and more efficient healthcare facilities.
With more than 30 years of experience, his designs have been recognized nationally and internationally for their contribution to improved medical outcomes, reduction in preventable medical error, operational efficiencies and lower construction costs.
Tom received a BS in Architecture from Lawrence Institute of Technology in 1978, is licensed as an Architect in multiple states, and is a member of The American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects.
Robert Watson
Senior Manager
Bob leads Lean Healthcare transformations for HPP and provides consulting services in a variety of areas within healthcare. Bob has developed training for Lean, Six Sigma and DFSS. He has also spoken at several Healthcare, APICS and ASQ functions He is a DMAIC Six Sigma Master Black Belt (ASQ and Juran certified). Bob has successfully conducted Kaizen events throughout the emergency department, registration, floor units, operating rooms and other areas.
Bob’s prior experience includes serving as vice president of Juran Institute, Inc. Prior to joining Juran, he was the founder and principal of Watson Associates, assisting multiple Fortune 500 clients achieve productivity gains and reduce inventory levels.
He received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Jamie Wilson
Senior Manager
Jamie has more than 10 years of healthcare experience, spanning management consulting, hospital administration, business development, and hospital operations performance improvement. She currently leads Lean Healthcare transformations and performs specialized consulting for HPP.
Prior to joining the company, she spent the last four years working with a consortium of hospitals throughout Australia and New Zealand, where she implemented hospital- and health-system-wide improvement initiatives and performed benchmarking and best practices analyses in nursing, radiology and maternity. While abroad, Jamie also worked as a lean healthcare consultant, using a customized program to provide lean-based consulting, training, and coaching services to clinical and non-clinical teams.
Prior to working internationally, Jamie completed an administrative fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and worked in business development for Partners Healthcare’s research, ventures, and licensing group, where she worked to market, develop, and commercialize research hospital intellectual property. She also spent two years with Deloitte & Touche as a consultant.
Jamie received her B.A. in Sociology with a dual concentration in Health and Medicine, Deviance and the Sociology of Law, graduating Summa Cum Laude from University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Jamie received a M.S. in Healthcare Management and Policy from the Harvard University School of Public Health.
Jeff Wilson
Director
Jeff works as a Lean Healthcare facilitator, consultant, and Lean Design specialist for HPP. He has developed Lean transformation plans, facilitated Kaizen events and developed training materials for numerous client companies in healthcare.
Jeff has delivered and applied progressive management and process improvement tools to help organizations reach new levels of performance in healthcare and several other industries.
His experience with Six Sigma and Lean extends back to the early days of his career while working with Colgate Palmolive. Jeff had the opportunity to use process improvement tools as a participant on project teams and was so impressed with the effectiveness of these tools he began to further develop his understanding of and expertise in the implementation and use of them. Throughout his career, Jeff has used and championed the use of Lean tools to deliver exceptional results.
Jeff served in a consultant role with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership where he had the opportunity to support other organizations as they seek to improve processes by implementing Lean.
Jeff has a B.S. in Economics from Western Kentucky University. He also holds a Certificate in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) designation.
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