Linda Dempster

Linda Dempster has demonstrated leadership in BC’s health care system for over 38 years. She is a staunch believer in compassionate leadership and models her values in all that she does. She has been a point-of-care nurse, a nurse manager, a director, executive director, vice-president, provincial executive lead to the Ministry of Health, and continues to volunteer on not-for-profit boards. Linda led the Clinical Quality, Patient Safety, and Infection Control portfolio at Vancouver Coastal Health for over 10 years, provided her professional practice leadership to Alberta Health Services, and most recently to Fraser Health for the past 9 years. In all her roles, she provided strategic and operational planning for the organization’s quality initiatives, working collaboratively with clinical operations leaders and physicians to connect various improvement efforts across the organization.

During her career, she has been instrumental in ensuring public reporting of organizational quality metrics. Along with her infection control and infectious disease experts she led the establishment of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Vancouver Coastal Health and then Fraser Health. Both programs have been highly successful.

At VCH, Linda championed efforts to streamline clinical and administrative processes, reduce waste, and eliminate barriers to delivering high-quality care. With ‘what matters to patients?” as her north star, Linda brought forward evidence-based initiatives such as Releasing Time to Care, What Matters to Me, and the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program to VCH. Linda was also instrumental in co-founding and supporting the first hospital-embedded canine detection program for clostridium difficile detection. She has launched programs such as Hand Hygiene, Medication Safety, Hospital Harm Indicator, Patient Engagement/Patient Advisors Frameworks and the Patient Care Quality Office. Most recently Linda continues to pursue this perspective in her work with the BC Ministry of Heath to implement minimum Nurse-to-Patient ratios. She states that “Adequate nurse staffing levels directly impact patient safety, and the quality of care delivered as well as nurse satisfaction. I am excited about this opportunity for B.C. to lead this for the country.”

In 2018, her team was recognized by Accreditation Canada for two Leading Practices: the Fraser Health Real Time Patient Experience Survey and the ‘Our Shared Commitments’, both of which were developed in collaborative partnership with the Fraser Health Regional Patient Advisory Council.

Much like Doug Cochrane, Linda’s passion and unwavering commitment for quality of care and a remarkable patient experience are hallmarks of the legacies she will leave. Her work has been tireless, and she has been proud to have been a direct recipient of Dr. Cochrane’s mentorship and wisdom. Linda has paid that back in her mentorship of others in the field. Many have been direct beneficiaries of Linda’s guidance and wise counsel. This award honours Doug’s legacy by recognizing those who follow in his footsteps to continue his work; Linda is definitely that person and is so deserving of this recognition. Linda epitomizes Doug’s vision and commitment to compassion led health care leadership.

Linda is donating her award to fund a scholarship for a nursing student to attend Quality Forum 2025. If you’re a nursing student, click here to enter the draw!