Gail Tsimprea, chief quality and risk management officer, McLean Hospital

Gail Tsimprea, an ASQ member since 1999 and now a senior member, is the chief quality and risk management officer for McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. McLean Hospital is the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School. She has more than 35 years of experience as a healthcare professional with a focus on all aspects of quality assurance.

Tsimprea earned an associate’s degree from Bristol Community College of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southeastern Massachusetts University, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Assumption College and a doctorate in health services and social change from Walden University. She holds licenses as a rehabilitation counselor and a clinical specialist in adult and mental health nursing.

Her first professional exposure to quality assurance came more than 30 years ago when she worked as a registered nurse in a community medical hospital. As part of a multidisciplinary treatment team, Tsimprea cared for patients in numerous areas: medical and surgical services, intensive care unit, emergency room, recovery room and crisis intervention. In each area, she was impressed with the hospital’s dedication to ensuring quality patient care.

In 1980, Tsimprea relocated to Boston, where she joined the community and residential treatment services at McLean Hospital. These outpatient residential programs represented a major innovation in the delivery of healthcare to patients with severe, debilitating mental illness. Between 1980 and the early 1990s, Tsimprea played an integral role in shaping this program. She was a pioneer in developing novel approaches to the delivery of medications to severely ill patients who lived in residential facilities. Her efforts helped increase the quality of community-based life for such individuals.

In 1996, Tsimprea was appointed director of clinical quality assurance and risk management at McLean, and in 2007, she was promoted to chief quality and risk management officer. In this role, she oversees the hospitalwide delivery of care, quality improvement and risk management, which involves the experience of care by patients and their families, as well as practice patterns and treatment guidelines.

Tsimprea has also taken her role as an educator and mentor seriously, instilling in McLean employees the belief that patient satisfaction is of primary importance to the hospital. Her philosophy on quality is embodied in the words that she often cites: “Quality is inclusive. It is everyone’s responsibility."

For more than 28 years, Tsimprea has dedicated her career to improving the lives of patients, educating colleagues about quality assurance, and ensuring that McLean Hospital patients receive the best possible care. For her efforts, she has earned many accolades, including a Presidential Citation from President Clinton for her “dedication, hard work and commitment” in the field of healthcare. She has also received the Vision of Excellence Award, McLean Hospital’s highest honor, and five Partners in Excellence Awards. She was recently selected by the Patriot Trail Girl Scouts and the Boston Business Journal to receive a Leading Woman Award for her seminal contributions to the care of those suffering from mental illness.