In 2024, leaders and team members from different facilities, system services, and Kettering Health Medical Group came together with a focus to support opportunities that elevate Kettering Health’s financial sustainability and growth.

Known as the Performance Improvement Taskforce (PIT), they partnered with facility, service line, and department leaders to identify, evaluate, and accelerate efforts that bolster Kettering Health’s capacity and ability to reinvest into its teams, infrastructure, technology, and—ultimately—its communities.

In the past six months, two PI Taskforces have listened, learned, and collaborated with various departments and service lines to accelerate their plans to simplify processes, reduce organizational waste, and increase impact.

Different Areas, One Focus

Each PIT included leaders and experts from across Kettering Health.

The first PI taskforce roster included

• Danielle Smith, Decision Support
• Peggy Smith, HR
• Katie Kimball, Marketing and Communications
• John Weimer, Ancillary Services
• Mike Snow, IS
• Chris Luckett, Operational Excellence
• Wendi Barber, Finance
• Erica Schneider, Acute Care
• Jody Underwood, KHMG

PI taskforce II roster included

• Paul Hoover, Acute Care
• Anthony Brown, IS
• Trevor Gundlach, Operational Excellence
• Stephen O’Neal, Nursing
• Chelcia Maul, Decision Support
• Kevin Spaulding, Operations
• Jean Eckert, Finance
• Michael Rabuka, Finance
• Amanda Koch, HR
• Daniel Haibach, KHMG
• Ben Riggs, Marketing and Communications

Their combined experience and insights show that when collaboration, curiosity, and mission-driven feedback come together, they create opportunities to grow, improve, and enhance how we strengthen our teams and deliver patient care.

Grow: Expanding Access and Excellence

Resulting from their work, they’ve helped expand care in key areas, including:

• New cancer services to provide advanced treatment to more patients.
• Expanded pharmacy options to improve medication access.
• Better access to services, making it easier for patients to get the care they need.

Improve: Maximizing Our Resources

They also helped enable opportunities to use resources more effectively, including:

• New contracts with vendors and third parties to save costs.
• Consolidating medication supplies to a single, streamlined source.
• Standardizing vendors to make purchasing simpler and more efficient.
• Using AI tools to improve coding and revenue cycle management.

Investing in What Matters Most: Our Team

Enabling more resources to be reinvested back into the service of our patients, these growth and improvement opportunities have already led to key investments that directly benefit our teams, including

• Elevating guest experience: Upgraded IT and digital infrastructure
• Prioritizing team safety: New security technology, including state-of-the-art cameras to support campus safety.
• Advancing clinical safety: Adopting Epic’s CUPID system to elevate care coordination for cardiovascular patients.
• Enhancing patient safety: Improved medication labeling and processes to enhance patient safety.
• Optimizing communications and care: The Unified Clinical Communications (UCC) project, streamlining tools and processes for better teamwork among care providers.

As Kettering Health continues to grow and improve, other PI taskforces may be formed to explore other areas of opportunity. By working together and staying focused on our mission, we’re making it possible to provide even better care—ensuring that every decision supports patients, staff, and the long-term success of our organization.