Navigant (NYSE: NCI) today announced the addition of Kate Goonan, MD and several experienced professionals from Goonan Performance Strategies, a firm that provides leadership coaching and change management consulting with a specific expertise in the Baldrige framework for the healthcare industry.

Dr. Goonan joins the Navigant healthcare practice as Managing Director and brings with her a team of Baldrige, Lean Six Sigma and performance excellence specialists. Together, they developed the Baldrige as a Blueprint® methodology to introduce provider clients to the practices of role-model organizations and assist them in identifying, sequencing, and addressing high-leverage change opportunities. Past clients include Henry Ford Health System (Baldrige recipient, 2011), Southcentral Foundation (Baldrige recipient, 2011), Poudre Valley Health System (Baldrige recipient, 2008), and Texas Health Resources (Texas Aware for Performance Excellence, 2013).

These professionals add depth of knowledge and new capabilities to Navigant’s healthcare performance improvement practice which provides leadership and cultural transformation expertise to healthcare provider senior executives as they lead their organizations in the face of significant industry change.

“We are committed to helping our clients sustainably solve their performance issues,” said David Zito, Managing Director and Navigant healthcare segment leader. “It’s not about a one-time cost reduction. The pressure on performance is inevitable in the healthcare industry, and we are investing in the suite of methodologies to ensure long-lasting performance excellence.”

Dr. Goonan has more than 25 years of experience helping senior healthcare leaders achieve organizational performance excellence, from turnaround to performance excellence measured by the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Most recently, she served as CEO of Goonan Performance Strategies. She serves as a Judge for the AHA McKesson Quality Award; she has also judged the Joint Commission's Codman Award. She also served on the nine-member Panel of Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (2000-02). Dr. Goonan is former Senior Vice President of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), including seventeen years as IHI faculty. She was also Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, overseeing all medical management and quality operations, and Vice President of Quality for UMASS Memorial Health Care, a five-hospital, 900-bed hospital system.

"I am thrilled to join a firm that shares my passion for making a difference in healthcare. I look forward to working with Navigant’s talented team of experts to design, launch, and lead sustainable organizational transformation,” said Dr. Goonan.

About Navigant

Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: NCI) is an independent specialized, global professional services firm that combines deep industry knowledge with technical expertise to enable companies to defend, protect and create value. With a focus on industries and clients facing transformational change and significant regulatory and legal issues, the Firm serves clients primarily in the healthcare, energy and financial services sectors which represent highly complex market and regulatory environments. Professional service offerings include strategic, financial, operational, technology, risk management, compliance, investigative solutions, dispute resolutions services and business process management services. The Firm provides services to companies, legal counsel and governmental agencies. The business is organized in four reporting segments – Disputes, Investigations & Economics; Financial, Risk & Compliance; Healthcare; and Energy. More information about Navigant can be found at navigant.com.