1st Annual Lean Healthcare Conference Keynote Speakers

View Website

Charles, "Gus" Whalen
Chairman : Warren Featherbone

After 38 years of leadership in The Warren Featherbone Company, Gus Whalen continues today as its Chairman and directs the efforts of The Warren Featherbone Foundation. In its remarkable 123-year history, Warren companies have been active in manufacturing, banking, agriculture, publishing and philanthropy. The company has been profiled twice by The Wall Street Journal and most recently was described as "representative of that huge mass of often overlooked businesses that give breadth and stability to the U.S. economy."

View Website

Cindy Jimmerson
President : Lean Healthcare West
Cindy Jimmerson is a pioneer of lean healthcare, having initiated her work with a grant from the National Science Foundation, 2001-2004. She is the founder and president of Lean Healthcare West, which consists of healthcare and industry professionals offering education and implementation of lean principles in hospital, clinic and long term care facilities. She is the author of A3 Problem Solving for Healthcare and many journal publications. Cindy brings passion and insights based on 30 years as a trauma system developer and emergency healthcare provider and is now making a measurable impact on performance in Healthcare organizations. She is in high demand as a speaker and facilitator and travels across the USA and internationally in her mission to improve healthcare for patients, healthcare providers and staff, and the economy.

View Website

Dr. John Kenagy
Medical Doctor : Kenagy & Associates, LLC

Dr. John Kenagy knows healthcare as a physician, healthcare executive, scholar, advisor, and patient.

In addition to 20 years' experience as a vascular surgeon, Kenagy has been Chief of Surgery, Chief of Staff, and held management positions including Regional Vice President for Business Development with PeaceHealth, a multi-state healthcare delivery system.

His frustration with current methods was fueled by an injury when he suffered a broken neck in a fall from a tree. He discovered that his recovery depended on the effort of dedicated individuals working in a broken health care system. Searching for organizational answers beyond "try harder," he earned a management degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School and was then appointed a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School from 1998-2002.

His Harvard research and teaching focused on innovative companies who excelled when others failed to adapt and change. He founded Kenagy & Associates, LLC to bring these capabilities to healthcare, using Adaptive Design © to better and more profitably meet the needs of patients in an increasingly complex, rapidly changing world.

View Website

Dr. Lowell Catlett
Professor : New Mexico State University

A Regent's Professor at New Mexico State University and a recipient of the university's highest award to a professor, the Westhafer Award. He is an exciting futurist whose knowledge of technologies and their implications on the way we will live and work is addressed in his varied and upbeat presentations. His vast knowledge astounds corporate and association audiences both nationally and internationally. His presentations are thought- provoking and highly-entertaining