(Ottawa, November 13, 2015) The Board of Directors of Accreditation Canada is pleased to announce that Leslee J. Thompson has been selected as the new President and CEO of Accreditation Canada, effective February 1, 2016.

An experienced executive, corporate director and health system leader, Ms. Thompson joins Accreditation Canada after seven years as President & CEO of Kingston General Hospital, where she led the organization through a major transformation. Prior to KGH, Ms. Thompson led national and international teams in the private sector as Vice- President Medtronic Canada.  Having held other senior executive roles in a provincial cancer agency, a regional health authority, community and academic hospitals, Ms. Thompson has worked with patients, providers, communities and policy makers in every part of our health care system.

“We are confident that Ms. Thompson’s experience, expertise and enthusiasm for quality improvement will serve our clients, surveyors and Accreditation Canada teams well at this point in our history”,” said George Weber, Board Chair at Accreditation Canada.  “We are looking forward to working with her to build on our strengths and to position our organization for long term success in Canada, and around the world.” 

“I am thrilled to be joining Accreditation Canada as the new President & CEO,” said Ms. Thompson “With its track record of success and bold ambitions for the future, I am excited to work with everyone to take the organization to the next level.”

Ms. Thompson holds a BSc in Nursing from Queen’s University, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.  She is currently the Chair of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, an Assistant Professor at Queen’s University, and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013. 

Accreditation Canada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits health care and social services organizations in Canada and around the world. Its comprehensive accreditation programs foster ongoing quality improvement through evidence-based standards and a rigorous external peer review. Accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua), Accreditation Canada has been helping organizations improve health care quality and patient safety for more than 55 years.