John Toussaint, MD, CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, has the experience and passion to be a driving force in creating healthcare value. From 2000 - 2008, Dr. Toussaint served as president and chief executive officer of ThedaCare, Inc. During his tenure as president and CEO of ThedaCare, Dr. Toussaint introduced the ThedaCare Improvement System (TIS), which is derived from the Toyota Production system. This model of continuous improvement helped save millions of dollars in healthcare costs by reducing patient errors, improving outcomes and delivering better quality care at a higher value. Read more

Helen Zak, President and COO of the Healthcare Value Leaders Network, has 25 years of lean leadership and implementation experience in a wide range of industries, including 9 years as COO of the Lean Enterprise Institute. Helen has contributed to many published works on the topic of lean and helped to establish the Lean Global Network, the Lean Educator Academic Network as well as the Healthcare Value Leaders Network. Helen is on the Board of Governors of the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence and the Steering Committee of EdNet, the education arm of Lean Advancement Initiative.

Mark Graban, Director of Communication & Technology, is a Senior Fellow with the Lean Enterprise Institute. He is the author of the book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction, winner of a 2009 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award. Mark has initiated and led member recruitment, social media, video, education, and case study efforts for the Network. Previously, he served as a consultant to healthcare organizations across North American and in England. Mark teaches workshops for LEI and is a frequent speaker at conferences.

Nancy Gurnee, Director of Operations, has over 10 years of experience in teaching and coaching frontline teams in the application of quality and lean tools and methods. Prior to joining the Network, she worked for ThedaCare as an organizational development consultant, a director in Human Resources, and for 5 years as a facilitator within the ThedaCare Improvement System. Nancy has previous held roles as an educator, manager of Training and Development, and Quality Improvement Facilitator and she has worked in a variety of organizations including education, manufacturing, and in the insurance industry. She has expertise and enthusiasm for the human side of transformation.

Jack Bowhan, Manager, Performance Measurement at ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, brings twenty-plus years of healthcare experience with multi-specialty group practices, hospitals, managed care organizations and led the first team to write performance measure specifications for WCHQ. Currently, Jack is responsible for leading, directing, and managing the development of healthcare value metrics. He works in partnership with members of WCHQ as well as its strategic partners including health care purchasers, the Wisconsin Health Information Organization, the Wisconsin Medical Society, and the Health Care Value Leaders Network.

Mike Stoecklein, Director of Assessment, brings twenty-plus years of healthcare management and performance improvement experience with multi-state health care systems, hospitals, managed care organizations and multi-specialty clinics.  Mike served as a Baldrige Examiner for six years, and is currently responsible for leading, directing, and managing the Shingo-based assessment process for the Network.  This assessment process will help Network member organizations accelerate their organizational transformation process through the use of a proven, standard model for operational excellence.

Stephanie VanVreede, Network Coordinator for the Healthcare Value Leaders Network, is responsible for the on-boarding of new Network groups, renewals, coordinating gemba site visits, and ensuring continued communication with Network members through the private Network member site and a monthly newsletter. Her background is primarily in manufacturing, where she has a strong skill set in administrative services, project management, marketing, and accounting.