Allison Muniak

Executive Director, Quality & Patient Safety and Infection Control, Vancouver Coastal Health

Allison Muniak is the Executive Director of Quality & Patient Safety and Infection Control at Vancouver Coastal Health. She is a Human Factors Engineering Specialist by training with strong experience applying engineering and psychology principles on a variety of large and small projects relating to healthcare across Canada and internationally. She was seconded from 2013-2015 to the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council as a lead for Culture, Teamwork and Communication. Her areas of expertise include the development, analysis, and implementation of complex system level and task requirements to build safe and effective healthcare environments, team behaviours through non-technical skill analysis and development, and the procurement of medical devices using human factors methodologies. Allison has previously taught, presented, and mentored many healthcare professionals and Human Factors experts internationally.
Allison completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Calgary with a focus in transportation and medical Human Factors. She received her Master of Applied Science from the University of Toronto in Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (Human Factors) and completed her thesis work at the University Health Network. Prior to moving to BC, Allison worked in Seattle, WA, in the medical device industry and applied Human Factors to the product development of portable ultrasound devices.
Allison is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), the Human Factors Interest Group (HFIG), and the Human Factors Group through WorkSafeBC. She is a faculty member for the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council – Quality Academy and Clinician Quality Academy and has presented to a variety of groups including the Patient Care Quality Review Board for the Ministry of Health (BC), the Clinical Excellence Commission in New South Wales, Australia, and numerous conferences across British Columbia and Canada. Allison enjoys teaching human factors and quality improvement and has lectured at the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, BCIT, and the Ontario College of Art and Design.