by Karla Wilson
Since coming into the role in 2021, Leanne's focus has been on adding resources – both human and capital - and building a respectful workplace culture.
Both strategic and people-focused, Heppell has already made an impact during her four-year tenure as CAO. As she continues to build the organization for the future, Leanne shares the story of her career, her pride in leading an organization doing such important work in healthcare, and her vision of where BCEHS is headed.
This story concludes our series of 50 Stories for 50 Years.
Leanne Heppell was born in Ladysmith on Vancouver Island. Growing up the youngest of three children, her father — a senior leader for Overwaitea Foods — was regularly transferred for work to new communities across B.C.
“He often got transferred in middle of school year, and our friends and lives would be uprooted,” Leanne recalls. “I look back on it now and I think that’s why I can adjust more easily than if I’d have grown up in one place with the same circle around me. I think it has helped me be flexible and adaptable.”
Leanne’s mother, she says, was a different kind of leader.
“My mom did all the volunteer work and ran the family,” Leanne says. “She was the foundation that held it all together. So, I came from two very strong leaders with two very strong jobs. It was a good grounding.”
From an early age, Leanne knew she wanted to become a nurse.
“I had this natural tendency of always trying to help and sort of gravitated to it,” she says. “My brother was a hockey player, and we went to every game. Somebody was always getting hurt, and I’d say: ‘Oh, this is so neat!’ while my sister was feeling sick about it. It was natural for me, wanting to go into something like that as a profession.”
By the age of 22, Leanne had earned her nursing diploma from the BC Institute of Technology and was working full-time in a variety of hospitals. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Victoria, then proceeded to earn her Masters in Nursing from the University of British Columbia.
While enrolled in the masters in nursing program and concurrently managing a hospital emergency department, Leanne wrote a research paper on how emergency departments and the provincial ambulance service could work more closely together.
“Back then, things were a little slower, so there was a closer relationship between BCAS and nurses and paramedics,” she says. “This paper was my first entry into the ambulance service — and I just loved it. It gave me an insight into paramedics and nurses and how they felt. I had that bug early on in my career. It’s such a fascinating world with first responders.”
After earning her Masters in Leadership from Royal Roads University in 2003, Leanne began to move into increasingly senior hospital leadership positions. In 2012, Leanne was invited to join BCEHS as an executive director responsible for 41 ambulance stations across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
In 2015, Providence Healthcare invited her back to become Vice President, Patient Safety and Innovation; and Chief of Professional Practice and Nursing — a role Leanne says she ‘couldn’t turn down.’
“I left BCEHS, but I always loved that job,” Leanne recalls.
Leanne moved back to the hospital system, and in 2016 she earned her Doctorate of Business Administration from Walden University.
Leanne’s job as VP at St. Paul’s Hospital saw her leading the build of a new hospital – a project she imagined as her swan song leading her into retirement. But, as fate would have it, Leanne was invited back to work for BCEHS in 2021, following the late June heat dome that had cast a negative light on the ambulance service – both from an outside lens and within the organization. David Byres, then President and CEO of the Provincial Health Services Authority, asked Leanne to come back to BCEHS to help right the ship.
“The call volume was horrendous,” Leanne recalls. “30 per cent of dispatchers and call-takers had quit or gone off sick. I thought I was coming over for a couple of months to help.”
Two months of summertime work to re-build morale and help get the organization functioning at optimal levels led to Leanne working for eight months, full-time, in both jobs – still VP at St. Paul’s and now Chief Ambulance Officer with BCEHS.
“It went by in nanosecond,” Leanne recalls.
Unable to continue working in both roles, she chose to stay permanently with BCEHS.
Leanne Heppell speaking at the BCEHS Long Service Awards in October 2024
Leanne Heppell’s influence over the culture of the organization and the changes seen over the past four years has been significant. While she refuses to take credit for all of the positive shifts, it’s clear that BCEHS has grown in both capital and human resources under her leadership.
“We’ve done some really good things,” Leanne admits. “I was fortunate that when I arrived, it was a bargaining year, and paramedics ended up with more competitive wages and benefits.”
“We’re trying to still build the organization with more ambulances, planes, and more people,” she continues. “We’ve done great work, but we are still catching up.”
While much of Leanne’s focus has been on better tools and resources for front-line paramedics, call-taking and dispatch teams, it has also been about recruiting new employees into a positive working environment and organizational culture that treats them well.
“We have this long line of people who want to work for us,” she says. “There are no issues with recruitment. We have programs like the high school EMR program and other
youth pathways that are really exciting. In my experience – in these rural and remote communities, kids will stay in these communities if they have a reasonable wage.”
Leanne also reinforces that while it’s ideal to keep young paramedics in the organization, BCEHS is also part of a broader healthcare system in the province.
“We can grow this workforce, and we can get these kids young, get values instilled into them. Even if they don’t stay, they might go into nursing or become a physician. We are trying to contribute to healthcare, because we all part of one complex system – so we’re figuring out how we integrate better within healthcare.”
“We’re a good investment, and we can do a lot more to help stabilize and support the healthcare system,” Leanne says. “Paramedics, especially once our scope of practice expansion is complete, are valuable resources that can help support health care in communities in ways beyond responding to 911 calls.”
Recent emergency department closures across B.C. and challenges in getting patients from one facility to another for specialty treatments have motivated Leanne and the BCEHS leadership team to look at doing things differently. BCEHS is working with PHSA and the Ministry of Health on a plan that could see more resources and more highly trained paramedics in key areas across the province.
Part of Leanne Heppell’s appeal is her immense respect for the people of the organization she leads.
“Paramedics and the team – they’re such a warm and compassionate group of people,” she says. “It’s a different type of healthcare person that can respond with no knowledge – a 911 call comes in and you get dispatched with no background – sometimes you treat people on the street. The hospital is a controlled environment, but here you go into this unknown situation.”
One of Leanne’s proudest accomplishments in her role has been to put structure and new positions in place so that BCEHS can coach, counsel, engage, support and recognize its employees.
“If you treat people right, they’ll treat their patients right – this is my philosophy,” Heppell says. “For me, it’s all about people and relationships. Those were the values I grew up with, and those are the values that have served me well as a leader. Education and degrees have helped me become a broader thinker – but at the end of the day, health is all about people – whether it’s staff, the patients, or their families.”
Under Heppell’s leadership, the
Chief Ambulance Officer’s Commendation for Excellence in Adversity has been implemented. It honours those who go above and beyond, delivering outstanding service in the face of adversity. Since 2021, each person receiving the commendation has also received a personal phone call of gratitude and appreciation from Leanne. She also makes a point of responding personally to every letter of commendation managers across the organization send to employees.
Leanne Heppell and other BCEHS leaders cuddled and bottle-fed baby goats at the ambulance station on a cold day in Fort St. John during a wintertime station tour.
Back Row L to R: Chief Ambulance Officer Leanne Helmer, Primary Care Paramedic Daniel Dabiri, Executive Director, Health Authority Liaison Darlene Emes.
Front Row: Chief Operations Officer Jennie Helmer
When Leanne first joined BCEHS, she says the culture was more military based, with disciplinary measures often being the first response to issues that arose.
“We’re moving towards a culture of people feeling more comfortable raising their hand and voicing their concerns,” Leanne says. “New recruits that are coming in are expecting a safe environment. I’m proud that staff are starting to flag when they’re not comfortable and that we have resources to coach, counsel, or do training if it’s needed.”
As it relates to resources and tools, the organization is also well-positioned to meet the ongoing needs of people in British Columbia.
“The planes and helicopters we are currently bringing online will give us one of the most modern air ambulance fleet in the world,” Leanne says. “We have a lineup of people who want to work for us. My work is to set up the organization so we’re ready to be successful and continue to improve for the next 50 years.”
Leanne’s pride in the organization isn’t about the work she has personally done as its leader – but in the overall services BCEHS provide to people who live in British Columbia.
“I get so many letters of thanks for the work that paramedics do,” she says. “I’ve always said that in any leadership or management job I’ve had; people want you to be kind. They want you to be competent, but they want you to be kind. The stuff that we learn is going to add to that because we’ll be smarter and stronger. Just start with a grounding of kindness.”
This people-first values base means that every single BCEHS employee is acknowledged by Leanne with the same warmth and humanity.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what your title is – you treat everyone the same,” she says.“Be consistent. We’re all people.”
Insofar as leadership qualities, Leanne says one of her most important leadership lessons over the years has been to hire more people who aren’t like her. With a variety of leadership qualities, personalities, and skillsets, she is proud of the team she has built.
The immediate future for BCEHS will see the organization continuing to improve its culture.
“I think this will translate into people feeling so proud of the work we do that people in other jurisdictions will want to have an EMS system just like B.C.,” Leanne says. “This means valuing each paramedic and each member of BCEHS – and developing a leadership team that values that at all levels of the organization.”
As for the next 50 years, Leanne’s vision for BCEHS is lofty.
“We want the right resources providing the best possible care from cradle to grave for every person living in BC and beyond,” she says. “I’m excited about our growth, and I think governments across the world will want to build an emergency medical system based on our model.”
