Dr. Leigh Chapman
Chief Nursing Officer for Canada
Health Canada
Dr. Leigh Chapman’s nursing career has spanned almost 20 years, and in that time she has gained a deep understanding of nursing through a variety of clinical leadership positions in home and community care, research, academic, regulatory, and professional practice environments. Her background in direct service provision includes critical care (i.e. intensive care unit, emergency department), community care (i.e. home care, harm reduction, and camp nursing), as well as education in professional associations (i.e. the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario).
Most recently, Dr. Chapman was the Director of Clinical Services with Inner City Health Associates in Toronto. Her work there encompassed strategic, operational, and clinical oversight of the nursing program for the care of people experiencing homelessness who were affected by COVID-19 in Toronto. As the senior nurse executive responsible for developing, launching, and overseeing the program, she garnered significant change management expertise. In addition, she cultivated the ability to nurture a culture of nursing practice – with registered nurses (RNs), registered practical nurses/licensed practical nurses (RPN/LPNs), nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians — grounded in health equity that is trauma-informed, low barrier, anti-oppressive and harm reduction focused.
Dr. Chapman has a Master of Science in Clinical Health Sciences from the Nursing Graduate Program at McMaster University. In 2019, Dr. Chapman completed her doctoral work at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Her research focused on the competency assessment practices of clinicians in an academic hospital setting, and this provided her with key insights into ways in which the regulation of health professionals intersects with organizational priorities in an acute care setting.