Client Remarks
Cindy Jimmerson's introduction to Lean/TPS Methods opened my eyes to the astonishing mediocrity, waste, and complexity we
tolerate in healthcare. We as a healthcare community create severe burdens for our society by allowing the waste to
continue; until we define the value of our services from the patient's perspective and embrace Lean principles to create
higher value work through eliminating waste, our healthcare environments will continue to deteriorate. I have seen
the application of Lean methods lead to rapid resolution of day-to-day problems that would otherwise go unnoticed. I do
not believe that Lean principles represent a "magic bullet" health-care fix, but if we have the wisdom to
integrate the principles the fixes will be deep, permanent, and will extend far beyond what we can currently imagine.
In the twenty years I have been engaged in process change research at the bedside, I haven't seen anything with
the potential to heal healthcare like Lean can. As a result of my experiences with the application of Lean
principles, I have chosen to dedicate the rest of my career to promoting their use in the healthcare arena.
Carrie Jane Wallace, RN, Ph.D., Clinical Outcomes Researcher,
Intermountain healthcare
Salt Lake City, UT
I’ve been in the Food Industry for twenty years and I didn’t know much about healthcare.
My first experience regarding the healthcare industry was when I went to Cindy Jimmerson’s Lean HealthCare
Workshop. She has taken the philosophy of Lean Manufacturing, modified it and designed tools to fit the needs of
healthcare. It is so easy and simple to use that I was able to teach it to several of the hospitals and clinics that
I now work with in Northern Minnesota. These hospitals and clinics saw immediate improvements, which were sustained
using the tools and concepts from her workshop.
Thank you Cindy!
Richard Wills III
Continuous Improvement Specialist
Center for Outreach & Innovation
Northland Community & Technical College
Cindy Jimmerson and her team at Lean Healthcare West have had an enormously positive impact on the mission of my
organizations, both in the recent past at Intermountain healthcare and now in my new position at Northwestern. The
training she provides goes beyond the mere mechanics of the Toyota Production System-- it captures the cultural essence
of waste-free processes, defect free products, empowered front-line employees, and an uncompromising dedication to
quality and customer service. Although the focus of the Lean Healthcare West training and seminars is on
healthcare delivery, I use the same concepts to constantly improve our internal processes in Information
Services. I also find myself using the concepts in my personal, day-to-day life. The ideas are timeless
and broadly applicable. I have been formally trained in virtually every major quality improvement process available
in the past 20 years-- ISO, CMMI, TQM, CQI, Six Sigma, and others. Without a doubt, the Toyota Production System and lean
process concepts that Cindy and her team teach are the most effective that I have ever seen. She uses lean,
efficient processes to teach lean, efficient processes-- beautiful and elegant.
If you are a leader in healthcare today, and you are not embracing these principles , you are underserving your patients,
employees, and the industry. It's that simple.
Dale Sanders
Vice President & CIO
Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation
As a clinician, my focus has been on patient diagnosis, treatment and patient outcomes. Learning the TPS model I now
look at the "process" of how and why we do the things we do. System failures and delays are really the key issues that
frustrate and limit our care-giving abilities. Changing the process for the better allows the care provider to keep the
focus on the patient and to ensure the ongoing commitment to our mission.
Pattie Polakow,
Cardiopulmonary Services
International Heart Center, Missoula, Montana