KDH welcomed Jennifer Ellis, RN, PhD, as its Vice President of Nursing/Clinical Services in January 2022. She is a results driven and inspiring leader who brings a wealth of experience and expertise along with a commitment to foster a culture of accountability, responsibility and possibility.

Jennifer brings to KDH 16 years of progressive leadership experience in the healthcare sector. Her areas of expertise include patient safety, patient experience, professional practice, risk management, quality improvement, nurse staffing, and service operations.

Previously, Jennifer served as the Director of Quality and Safety at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), for eight years. Significant accomplishments during her tenure at CHEO include implementation of a robust patient safety strategy and programming, as well as operational service and infrastructure changes. Additionally, Ellis’ team oversaw a very successful Accreditation, in which CHEO achieved Exemplary standing and an overall score of 99.7 percent. Ellis and her team were instrumental in putting “Safety First” throughout the pandemic, instituting highly reliable COVID safety practices, which contributed to CHEO’s outbreak free status.

Jennifer has a strong commitment to regional collaboration and community contributions. She currently serves on a number of non-profit boards, including as Vice Chair, Rideauwood Addictions and Family Services, and Board Member, Service Coordination Support. Ellis is active in regional committees, such as the Health Care Quality Network, and professional organizations such as the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.

Jennifer earned her PhD in Nursing from McMaster University in 2009, successfully defending a thesis focused on nursing health human resources. She has authored papers that have appeared in publications such as Canadian Nurse and the Journal of Nursing Care Quality and is an advocate of evidence informed, professional practice. Jennifer has been a guest lecturer in the Telfer School of Management’s Master of Health Administration program and is currently teaching its Quality Management course.