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Kimberly-Clark Health Care President Joanne Bauer Named To List Of Top 25 Women In Healthcare By Modern Healthcare Magazine
Kimberly-Clark Health Care President Joanne Bauer Named To List Of Top 25 Women In Healthcare By Modern Healthcare Magazine Click on images to view collection

(DALLAS/ATLANTA – April 18, 2007) – Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) announced today that Health Care sector President, Joanne Bauer has been named to Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Women in Healthcare, an elite group of professionals that includes renowned physicians, administrators, business executives and policy makers.

Modern Healthcare selected the top 25 women based on the following five criteria:

 

  • Successful service as a leader in an organization or company;
  • Ability to effect change in the healthcare industry;
  • Willingness to share expertise with others in the field;
  • Service as a role model to other female healthcare executives;
  • Leadership position in the industry.

"Health Care is one of Kimberly-Clark's fastest growing businesses and this honor speaks to the success of the sector and Joanne's leadership," said Tom Falk, Kimberly Clark Chairman and CEO. "Her contributions are significant, not only to Kimberly-Clark, but to the healthcare industry as a whole."

During her tenure, Ms. Bauer has been instrumental in growing the Health Care business by developing and leading strong teams to achieve the following:

 

  • Successfully integrating the acquisitions of well-known companies including Ballard medical products, Tecnol, Inc., a producer of face masks and Safeskin Corporation, a glove manufacturer;
  • Doubling sales outside of North America and overseeing rapid international expansion;
  • Redesigning the manufacturing supply chain to produce an annual cost savings of $50 million;
  • Implementing and executing business continuity plans to prepare for pandemics such as SARS and avian flu;
  • Leading a re-positioning of Kimberly-Clark Health Care's go-to-market strategy from a provider of personal protective equipment to higher order medical devices to help reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

In 2006, Ms. Bauer focused the business' resources on developing and acquiring innovative technologies and devices that would aid in the prevention of HAIs, a cause of 90,000 deaths each year. Under her leadership, Kimberly-Clark has sharpened its focus on bringing solutions to market that reduce the leading causes of surgical site infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia, two dangerous and costly HAIs. In addition, the company has sponsored the national Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP) as well as The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Human Factors project, two initiatives that are designed to arm caregivers with the tools they need to improve patient outcomes either through clinical measures or teamwork and effective communications.

"I applaud Modern Healthcare's recognition of female professionals who are making a difference in healthcare and am honored to be in the company of such remarkable women," said Ms. Bauer. "The success of our health care business and the fact that I would even be considered for this honor is a direct result of all of our people working to deliver top-quality products and to support the healing mission of caregivers. I am honored to lead that team."

The Top 25 Women in Healthcare will be honored at an awards banquet on May 21st in Dallas. For more information, please visit www.modernhealthcare.com/top25women.

Kimberly-Clark in the Healthcare Environment

Around the world, medical professionals turn to Kimberly-Clark for a wide portfolio of solutions that improve the health, hygiene and well-being of their patients and staff. As part of their healing mission, caregivers rely on Kimberly-Clark to deliver clinical solutions and educational resources that they can depend on to prevent, diagnose and manage a wide variety of healthcare-associated infections. This over $1 billion global enterprise of Kimberly-Clark Corporation holds the No. 1 and No. 2 market share positions in several categories, including infection control solutions, surgical solutions, pain management and digestive health. And throughout the care continuum, patients and staff alike trust Kimberly-Clark medical supplies and devices, Kleenex tissues, Kimberly-Clark Professional skin care products, and Scott towels for day-to-day needs. For more information, please visit http://www.kchealthcare.com.