Co-chairs  

Co-chairs

Patients for Patient Safety Canada

Theresa is honoured to serve as Co-Chair of Patients for Patient Safety Canada, having been a member since 2006. 

In her time with Patients for Patient Safety Canada, Theresa has been an active participant in many initiatives including Knowledge Transfer Webinars on a range of Patient Safety topics. She was also able to present the Patient /Family Voice in the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) –Cleaning and Disinfection Standard (Spring 2020). Theresa has presented her son Dan's story at many conferences and meetings, particularly important to her at the introduction of the Pediatric Heart Failure Guidelines (2013). 

Theresa is a retired Pediatric Occupational Therapist where her passion for Family Centred care was established. She spent many years working in Alberta and Ontario on clinical and research projects in schools and in the community, always with children who have special needs and their families. 

Theresa is married and she and her husband Tim spent many summers canoeing with their two sons Ben & Dan and winters in hockey arenas. Her commitment for patient safety began with the passing of her son Dan related to a series of patient safety incidents. She is committed to helping Patients for Patient Safety Canada in their relentless efforts to ensure "Every Patient Safe". 

Co-chair, Patients for Patient Safety Canada
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Linda is a former Co-chair of Patients for Patient Safety Canada (PFPSC) 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 Healthcare Excellence Canada Strategy Working Group.