Brian Wiggs, DHA, CSSBB, CPHQ

Brian Wiggs is an accomplished continuous improvement leader with a strong track record of building and sustaining cultures of operational excellence in healthcare. He brings deep experience in applying continuous improvement principles to create healing environments that are not only efficient but safe and patient-centered.

For Brian, improving healthcare quality and safety is more than a profession—it’s a personal mission. His older brother lives with a severe case of cerebral palsy caused by a preventable medical error over four decades ago. This lived experience fuels Brian’s unwavering commitment to patient safety and system-wide improvement. He believes healthcare practitioners, both clinical and non-clinical, must be true partners in every patient’s healthcare journey—a goal only achievable by cultivating psychologically safe, collaborative environments where all team members are empowered to drive meaningful change.

Brian began his healthcare career as a medical technologist in clinical laboratories across UNC Health, where he was first introduced to the power of continuous improvement. Over the last decade, he has honed his skills in coaching, teaching, organizing, and leading transformational change across diverse care settings—from large academic medical centers to rural hospitals and primary care clinics.

As Director of Lean Transformation at UNC Health Chatham, Brian led a hospital-wide lean transformation that delivered remarkable results: a sustained CMS five-star rating for patient experience over 16 consecutive quarters, over three years without catheter-associated UTIs or central line infections, significant gains in employee engagement, and a major financial turnaround for the hospital.

Today, Brian serves as a Senior Business and Quality Improvement Leader at UNC Health, where he focuses on designing, implementing, and sustaining lean management systems that improve care delivery and outcomes. As a continuous improvement practitioner, Brian’s greatest fulfillment derives from teaching and developing others. In addition to his role at UNC Health, he serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Northern Colorado and the Medical University of South Carolina, where he teaches healthcare finance and population health management in their respective MBA and Doctor of Healthcare Administration programs.

Brian holds a Doctor of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina, a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Science from East Carolina University. He is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality.