Linda has been
Co-chair of Patients for Patient Safety Canada (PFPSC) since 2017 (her term
ends September 2020) and a PFPSC member since 2014. Her personal experience as
a family caregiver in hospital, home and long-term care settings coupled with
her professional experience as a nurse, educator and leader fuels Linda’s
passion for patient engagement in improving patient safety. As a PFPSC Co-chair
Linda led the development and implementation of PFPSC’s strategic priorities
and contributed to CPSI strategic and operational planning. Over the past year,
Linda was part of the team who planned strategy, execution and follow-up for
the PFPSC hosted Patient Roundtable meetings with Ministries of Health in 7
Provinces. The focus of the agenda of these meetings are the policy requests
that matter most to PFPSC: reporting and learning of incidents, improving the
processes to address the needs of patients and families who have been harmed,
and engaging patients as full partners in patient safety improvement
efforts. Linda co-chaired the development of the Patient Alliance for
Patient Safety, a coalition of over 20 patient groups and organizations, and
led them to identify a collective goal of public engagement for safe care
journeys. She was also a patient partner with the National Patient Safety
Consortium Steering Committee, the Canadian Quality and Patient Safety Advisory
Committee, and many more Canadian level initiatives. Linda has extensive
leadership and governance experience including: administrative experience as
the Nursing Director of the Winnipeg Health Authority Mental Health program
which included strategic planning for all the hospital mental health programs in
Winnipeg; Board member of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) where she
participated in developing a new strategic plan for the CNA; Board member of
the Simkin Centre Nursing Home where she participated in developing a strategic
plan for the Centre and their quality improvement program; Board member and
chair of the Board’s Patient Care Committee of the St. Boniface Hospital in
Winnipeg, a large, tertiary care hospital. Linda has the experience and passion
to be an effective contributor to the Amalco Strategy Working Group.