Ward Flemons, MD, is a Respirologist at the FMC and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of of Medicine. Dr. Flemons graduated from the University of Alberta in 1984, completed his Internal Medicine and Respiratory Medicine training in 1990, and a three year AHFMR (Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research) Clinical Research Fellowship. He joined the medical staff of the Foothills Hospital in 1992. He has held the roles of Foothills Sleep Centre Medical Director, Department of Medicine’s QI physician and Site Chief and Chair, Respiratory Medicine undergraduate course. His leadership within Alberta Health Services has led to a number of important initiatives, from the development of four regional patient safety policies (Disclosing, Reporting, Just & Trusting Culture, and Informing) and a regional guideline on the management of serious adverse events, to the implementation of a new electronic safety learning reporting system and the establishment of a Patient / Family Safety Council. Dr Flemons also led in the creation of a regional patient advocacy program that assisted patients who had experienced adverse events and more effectively dealt with patient concerns about their health care. In 2008, he completed a two-year CHSRF sponsored EXTRA (Executive Training for Research Application) fellowship; his project focused on developing and implementing a system wide approach to improving Emergency Department patient flow. Dr Flemons has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles, review papers, and book chapters and chaired several international consensus groups in the area of sleep apnea. As Quality and Safety Education Lead for the W21C, Dr Flemons continues to work on the development of a quality and safety education curriculum, safety culture, and the design of safer and more effective healthcare delivery with specific focus on human-based innovation.
