The Lean Team, St. Lawrence County Public Health Department

The Lean Team

Left to Right

  • Nicole Wickwire, Susanna Law, Tammy Tracy, Lisa Peters, Sharon MacWilliam, Patricia Olson, Elaine Charleson. Not pictured: Nina Plaisted

The Lean Team is a group of eight fiscal staff who are responsible for the billing, payroll, AP and AR in the department. In 2010 we asked them to work with CITEC, a lean technology company, to review and improve the processes in the department. The team learned how to do Value Stream Mapping and the Kaizen methodology of continuous improvement projects. They presented to the department a number of procedures that will help us improve the quality and timeliness of care that we deliver to our patients. Even after the collaboration ended, the Lean Team has chosen to continue to meet on a regular basis and work on continuous improvement.

Our department is under tremendous pressure to control costs while maintaining program quality for our constituents. The Lean Team is helping us control costs by increasing efficiency and thereby improving the service that we provide.

Learn more about Public Health Support Staff and Public Health Business Manager, Fiscal Services