Charles Hagood, PhD, MBA, and Six-Sigma Master Black Belt, is a renowned leader in healthcare performance improvement and management consulting. He is currently the President of Press Ganey Strategic Consulting and Transformation solutions, where he leads engagements with healthcare organizations globally. Dr. Hagood has vast experience working with Fortune 500 companies in the aerospace, automotive, and consumer goods industries.

Dr. Hagood has founded and co-founded numerous ventures, including Healthcare Performance Partners and The ACCESS Group, for which he was an affiliate of Clayton Advisors. He authored "Lean Led Hospital Design-Creating the Efficient Hospital of the Future," which won the Shingo Prize for Research. Dr. Hagood is also an Adjunct Professor at Belmont University's Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Hagood studied a Doctorate of Science in Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, as well as an MBA and a Postgraduate degree in Facilities & Reliability Engineering from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He led and was the Founding Faculty Member of the Lean Healthcare Certificate Program at Belmont University and partnered in the relaunch of the Denver Health Academy.