Making A Difference In Health Care

by Christine Van Dusen

June 1, 2007

Joanne Bauer is practicing sitting still. Literally. She is trying to sit still until the first commercial break in "CSI," and it’s a struggle. Her email, her text messages, her voicemails, her paperwork — all are conspiring to pull Bauer off the couch and back into her role as president of Kimberly-Clark Health Care in Roswell.

Truth be told, she doesn’t resent the temptation to walk away from the TV. Bauer, 51, relishes her professional position, helming a $1.3 billion health care device-and-supplies business that holds top-tier market share positions in infection control solutions, surgical solutions, pain management and digestive health. During her 26-year career with Kimberly- Clark’s health care and consumer businesses, Bauer has helped integrate key acquisitions, double sales outside of North America and redesign the manufacturing supply chain to create $50 million in annual cost savings.

So it is that Bauer was just named to Modern Healthcare magazine’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare, an elite list of renowned physicians, administrators, business executives and policymakers who serve as leaders in their organizations, affect change in the health care industry, share expertise and serve as role models to other female health-care executives.

"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," says Tom Falk, Kimberly-Clark chairman and CEO. "Her contributions are significant, not only to Kimberly-Clark, but to the healthcare industry as a whole. "
 
This focus on health care began as something of a fluke for Bauer. When she was growing up in Wisconsin, her dream was to become a mother. She wasn’t particularly attracted to her father’s career as a vice president of research and development for a consumer products company. And health care didn’t really pique her interest, despite her experience with it — she wore a brace to treat scoliosis and visited doctors regularly, which taught her “to deal with what comes your way,” she says.

What Bauer was attracted to, above all else, was learning. "I just loved to go to school," Bauer says. "I love to learn. I’m not afraid to ask questions."

After graduating in 1977 with a degree in English from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., it seemed only natural for Bauer to continue her schooling. A law degree was a
possibility, but she instead decided to get her MBA.

"I really had no idea I would end up in business," Bauer says. "I teased my dad that if he would have paid, I would have gone through to a Ph.D." In pursuing her business degree at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Bauer focused on marketing, and in 1981, joined the marketing team for Kimberly-Clark’s Adult Care.