Lean Health Care Certificate Programs (Classroom & Online) 

'Lean thinking' originated in the automotive sector and is now at the forefront of all industries.  It is especially valuable in the health care realm, where budgets are perennially tight and efficiency is thus vital.  “Lean” gives this industry not just a set of tools to use and procedures to follow, but a comprehensive and integrated thought process, culture and system of beliefs.

The Ontario Hospital Association, in partnership with the Leading Edge Group, is here to help you instill a Lean culture in your health care organization.  The provision of Lean education, training and management consulting services is an integral part of the Leading Edge Group of companies. They have worked on over 800 consulting and educational projects for more than 250 organizations worldwide – and have a blue chip client base that includes Dell, Pfizer, PepsiCo, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons, the UK National Health Service (NHS) and Honeywell.

• Understand the principles, philosophy, and benefits of Lean health care
• Gain proficiency in Lean tools and practices
• Appreciate the role of cross-functional teams in the successful roll-out of Lean
• Achieve significant process improvements for the benefit of the patient and organization
• Gain a common language and standard for Lean throughout the organization

Click here to view Samantha Waytowich, National Lean Sigma Consultant for the Leading Edge Group, as she discusses The Role of Lean in Hospitals.

Samantha has been a Lean Sigma Black Belt for the past 8 years. She worked within a national healthcare organization supporting client services and analytical operations as a coach, trainer and project lead.

A significant piece of Sam’s work has included leading a series of improvement (‘Kaizen’) events that developed a "Provincial Model Patient Service Centre" concept.

Lean Health Care Yellow Belt (Classroom Program)

The Lean Health Care Yellow Belt Certificate is a two-day instructor-led program that gives participants an overview of the basic principles of Lean thinking in the health care environment. The program outlines and demonstrates the essential Lean tools and practices that can be applied within health care organizations to increase service efficiency and quality, improve employee satisfaction, and reduce waste. It aims to create not only a basic level of Lean awareness, but an understanding of the benefits that can be achieved by following Lean best practice.

To download the Lean Health Care Yellow Belt program brochure, click here.

To register for the Lean Health Care Yellow Belt program visit the Continuing Education webpage for a list of our upcoming Yellow Belt classes, click here.

Lean Health Care Green Belt (Online & Blended Learning Programs)

The Lean Health Care Green Belt Certificate develops an understanding of Lean and its effective application in health care. It is focused on developing competence in deploying Lean tools and techniques, but also in facilitating an improvement project.

OHA is pleased to offer the Lean Health Care Green Belt in either an online format or blended learning (classroom and online) format. During the blended learning format, participants receive full online access as well as attend five classroom tutorial days. 

To download the Lean Health Care Green Belt program brochure, click here.

To register for the Lean Health Care Green Belt program (Onlne), click here.

To register for the Lean Health Care Green Belt program (Blended Learning NEW) visit the Continuing Education webpage for a list of our upcoming blended learning Green Belt classes, click here.

Lean Health Care Black Belt (Online Program)

The Lean Health Care Black Belt Certificate aims to provide participants with a practical application of Lean tools and techniques within the health care sector, as well as developing the appropriate process improvement, leadership, and project management skills to drive the changes that are necessary for a successful Lean transformation. 

Each participant is assigned an expert mentor to provide support throughout the program. This involves providing any clarification on subject matter queries, advising on suitable project selection and supporting participants as you undertake the project and module assignments.

To download the Lean Health Care Black Belt program brochure, click here.

To register for the Lean Health Care Black Belt program, click here.