22 JUL 2016

NorthBay Honored In the Book on Lean

The third edition of author Mark Graban’s book “Lean Hospitals — Improving Quality, Patient Safety and Employee Engagement” is now on shelves and NorthBay Healthcare’s Lean journey is spotlighted in the new publication.

Graban is an internationally recognized expert in the field of “Lean health care,” a consultant, author, blogger and keynote speaker. He visited several years ago to speak on the subject when NorthBay first adopted Lean principles, which focus on improving operations by identifying problems and finding solutions. The goal is to improve the patient experience.

A section in the updated book on getting started with Lean includes a lengthy quote from NorthBay Healthcare President and CEO Gary Passama:

“Our approach to inculcating Lean at NorthBay was deliberate in nature. We were not interested in a ‘big bang’ approach. We wanted Lean to become part of daily life at NorthBay. 

We also wanted our team members at all levels to feel empowered to apply Lean principles at the work site level. That is what we have worked hard on over the past three years.

“We now have three Lean Facilitators on staff who act as a resource for implementing projects and changes. We have seen changes ranging from how we stock supplies in various departments to how we schedule patients in our outpatient settings. In some instances we have achieved measurable savings. In other instances patient satisfaction has improved.

“While cost savings are nice, we did not set out in our Lean activities with that as a primary goal. Our staff understands this and therefore does not fear Lean. We have had no significant layoffs since embarking on our Lean journey. It may be a coincidence but since we started using Lean principles we have had our best years in terms of financial results and employee satisfaction scores.”

Being included in the book is an honor, said Gary, adding that it’s proof of the excellence of NorthBay and its staff.

“I was surprised when Mark Graban asked me to comment on NorthBay’s Lean journey, which is continuing. Surprised but very happy to see NorthBay mentioned in the same book with other outstanding health care providers,” he said. “It was yet another example of the great work done by NorthBay staff in delivering compassionate care, advanced medicine, close to home.”

 

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