Mid-America Transplant is proud to share that our President and CEO, Kevin Lee, has been elected to the board of directors for the Baldrige Foundation. The Baldrige Foundation supports the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which Mid-America Transplant has relied on since 2003 to help us drive continuous improvement that has made more organs and tissues available to those in need.
Kevin has long championed the Baldrige framework and was a 2024 recipient of the Foundation Award for Leadership Excellence from the Baldrige Foundation in recognition of his work promoting the positive impact of the Baldrige program on organizational success.
Under Kevin’s leadership, Mid-America Transplant became the first organ procurement organization (OPO) in the nation to win a second Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Following the Baldrige framework has led Mid-America Transplant to a 67% increase in organ donors and a 75% increase in tissue donors over the past 10 years.
“Mid-America Transplant’s mission is to save lives through excellence in organ and tissue donation, and since adopting the Baldrige framework more than 20 years ago, we’ve been able to make significant improvements that are ultimately saving more lives each year,” said Kevin. “I look forward to the opportunity to give back to the Baldrige community and enable more organizations, especially those in the healthcare community, to access best practices in performance excellence to improve patient outcomes.”
Kevin’s previous Baldrige experience includes participating in the prestigious Baldrige Executive Fellows Program and serving on the Baldrige Board of Examiners, helping guide other organizations on their own performance improvement journeys.
In addition to Kevin’s board appointment, our Executive Vice President, Organ, Lindsey Speir, was selected to participate in the 2025 Baldrige Executive Fellows Program. This year-long journey connects leaders with Baldrige Award recipients to study how world-class organizations and senior leaders achieve strategic and operational excellence and stimulate innovation.