Bonnie Adamson

With over fourteen years of experience as a CEO in rural, community and academic hospital environments, Bonnie Adamson brings a unique perspective to health care leadership and decision-making. She is currently the President and CEO of London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), recognized as one of the largest and most comprehensive teaching and research hospitals in Canada. Building on her track record of creating strategy-driven organizations, Bonnie is driving a leadership and cultural transformation at LHSC centered upon excellence and innovation in patient care, while also enhancing the academic and research strength of the hospital. Bonnie is also fostering system transformation through broad engagement of health care partners with the aim of developing patient-centred, high quality, integrated care pathways. Bonnie has a passion for building leadership capacity, having personally mentored over 30 individuals, several of whom have become successful executives in the Canadian health care system. Her passion for leadership and proven ability to drive transformational change, combined with an unrelenting focus on improving quality, safety and the patient experience, make her a sought after speaker at many conferences nationally and internationally. Prior to joining LHSC in October 2010, Bonnie spent eight years as President and CEO of North York General Hospital, a multi-site community teaching hospital in Toronto. During her tenure, she returned fiscal stability, led the organization through the SARS epidemic in 2003, and built a sustained culture of continuous quality improvement. From 1998 to 2002, Bonnie was President and CEO of the Huron Perth Hospitals Partnership, an eight hospital network in southwestern Ontario. She was instrumental in leading the establishment of this innovative, voluntary initiative which served as an early model for hospital integration in Ontario. Bonnie holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment in the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, and has held a Preceptor role in the Masters in Health Administration program, Institute of Health Policy and Evaluation, University of Toronto, since 2002. In addition, she is a Fellow at the Canadian College of Health Leaders and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Bonnie is a current Board member of the Ontario Hospital Association, the Canadian Health Information Management Association, and is a member of the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation Advisory Council, Western University. She is the Past Chair of the National Board of the Canadian College of Health Leaders and has held numerous governance leadership roles at the national, provincial and local level throughout her career. In addition, she served as a Surveyor with the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation for eleven years and has authored numerous articles. Over her career, Bonnie has been formally recognized with several notable awards, most recently including the Chairman’s Award for Distinguished Service from the Canadian College of Health Leaders in 2011, and was named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network in 2012. Bonnie holds a Master of Science degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto.