Joseph Hart

Joseph Hart

Executive Director, Rochester Site Operations, Bausch + Lomb

Years in current role: 20

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am surrounded by an incredibly talented group of professionals at Bausch + Lomb, many of whom I consider friends. I believe it is because of the wide-ranging talent, and the strong relationships that we have as a team, that have allowed us to accomplish many wonderful achievements over the years.

Additionally, as the site lead, I strive to offer an environment that enables our Rochester team to grow, thrive and be recognized for their work. This is a great honor for me, and it is something I strive to uphold and improve upon every single day. Celebrating our accomplishments — big and small — is important as it demonstrates our continued progression in delivering our company’s mission and vision together.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with over the past year?

Navigating the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic was not only the greatest challenge of the past year, but I think it could quite possibly be one of the greatest challenges of my career. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been doing all we can to help ensure the safety and well-being of our customers, patients and employees. We have also continued to review and take all necessary measures to ensure the stability and consistency of our product supply to ensure we can continue to provide patients with the eye health products and services they need. I am so proud of our team for how they continued to adapt to the changing times and for all of the diligent hard work they have put forth during such an unprecedented time.

What are you most looking forward to doing as COVID restrictions ease?

Since 2018, the Bausch + Lomb Rochester facility has been working on a building expansion that will contain new production lines to support the manufacture of our latest and very successful Bausch + Lomb INFUSE® contact lens. The construction of the new building is complete, and we’re now in the process of installing the new lines. I look forward to starting up these production lines later this year.

I also look forward to having more face-to-face meetings, holding our facility-wide Town Hall meetings in a live, group setting again, and resuming our annual picnic with the employees. While we have continued to exchange written communications with our team in Rochester, I have missed the personal interaction that we all had before the pandemic.