Bio
Leslee Thompson is currently Executive-in-Residence at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management while serving as CEO Health Standards Organization (HSO) and Accreditation Canada – two Canadian based not-for-profit corporations operating globally to improve quality health services for all.
Armed with 25 years of Senior Executive and Corporate Director experience that spans multiple geographies and sectors including heath care, medical technology and retail, Leslee is a leader who makes things happen. She has accumulated extensive insights from leading organizations through challenging periods of change, and her stewardship of a high-profile hospital turnaround is now the subject of a Rotman case study used in the MBA program.
In the private sector, Leslee was Vice-President of Health System Strategies Canada for Medtronic, a global medical devices company, where she had national and international responsibilities in areas of strategy, health policy and strategic account management. She was on the Board of Directors at Shoppers Drug Mart for six years, completed the ICD program at Rotman, and is currently serving on the Board of a company owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.
In the public sector, Leslee has led numerous large-scale, complex changes within and across organizations going through mergers, amalgamations and system-level restructuring. Specifically, she was President and CEO of Kingston General Hospital, Vice-President of Cancer Care Ontario, Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer of Sunnybrook and Women’s Health Sciences Centre, Chief Operating Officer of Toronto Western Hospital at University Health Network and Senior Operating Officer of Royal Alexander Hospital at Capital Health, Alberta. She has also served on influential boards and panels including: Board Chair of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, Chair of Council of Academic Hospital Ontario, member of Ontario Health Innovation Council. Today she serves on the Board of International Society of Healthcare Quality (ISQua).
In her current role, she is the driving force behind the People Powered Health movement ignited by Accreditation Canada (AC) and the newly created Health Standards Organization (HSO). After her appointment as CEO in 2016, she led a 12-month global consultation and business design process, and now Leslee and her teams are driving a significant growth and diversification agenda that will further their bold ambition of achieving quality health services for all. Based in Canada, HSO and AC operate in over 30 countries today and have offices in offices in Europe, Latin America, and soon the Middle East.
Leslee has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, a Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto, and an undergraduate degree in Nursing from Queens University. She is frequently invited to speak and write on topics related to leadership, health care system trends and partnering with patients to improve outcomes. Leslee’s leadership has been recognized though multiple awards including being named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women but she is most proud of receiving the Facing Cancer Together Award of Honour for her commitment to empowering women with cancer which celebrated her role in pioneering the Look Good Feel Better program in Canada. Leslee is active on social media and is looking forward to engaging with students at Rotman in her new capacity as Executive in Residence.