Contact: Scott Samples, Marketing Communications Manager
Phone: (772) 223-4920
Email: scott.samples@martinhealth.org   

STUART, Fla., Jan. 24, 2013 – In his career as a manufacturing executive, Joseph C. Day earned a reputation for developing and implementing lean management culture and processes that helped his organizations become more successful.

Recently, Day made a $1 million gift to the Martin Health Foundation with the primary objective to help Martin Health System continue to develop performance excellence, leadership development and physician initiatives. Martin Health’s four-year-old performance excellence program implements lean management techniques into the health care setting, reducing waste and inefficiency to enhance the quality of patient care.

“Martin Health has developed a culture of performance excellence that is advancing patient care in numerous ways,” Day said. “However, lean management is a constant journey and my ultimate goal is to assist Martin Health in its efforts to continue finding ways to more effectively and safely care for patients. I have seen it work in manufacturing and it is helping health care providers deliver the highest quality care possible.”

The former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg-NOK, a global manufacturing company that makes sealing products and other industrial rubber products, Day has received international recognition for his work in lean management.

He was inducted into the Shingo Academy, which consists of individuals who have distinguished themselves through their lifetime commitment and achievements in the area of lean and operational excellence. And in 2000 he earned the S.M. Wu Foundation’s Manufacturing Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have successfully demonstrated leadership skills and have made a profound impact on the manufacturing industry. In 2002, Day earned an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Day, who joined the Martin Health Foundation Board of Directors in 2012, has a long history of community leadership with not-for-profit organizations. He is currently on the board of directors for Volunteers in Medicine Clinic and the Council on Aging of Martin County, has been a member of the University of Massachusetts Foundation for seven years, and served 14 years as a board member of the 2,200-bed Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

“Joe has tremendous experience and insights into how performance excellence can benefit health care providers and ultimately the patients we serve,” said Mark E. Robitaille, president and chief executive officer of Martin Health. “He has demonstrated leadership in the field for many years and we are fortunate that he is sharing his experience and his generosity with Martin Health and the community we serve.”

About Martin Health System: Martin Health System is a not-for-profit, community-based health care organization that has served the region for more than 70 years. It offers a continuum of care including preventative, primary and acute hospital care, as well as cancer and cardiac care, wellness and rehabilitation services. Its approximately 3,000 associates, 375 affiliated physicians and 900 volunteers provide care at 12 different locations serving Martin and St. Lucie counties. Martin Health is a seven-time winner of the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals Award, has twice been named a Thomson Reuters 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals award winner, and received designation as a National Employer of Choice designee for 2009 and 2010-11. To learn more, visit martinhealth.org.