Honorary Colonel (Retired) Lee-Anne Quinn’s career reflects a lifelong commitment to care as service. Over 26 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a nursing officer and nurse practitioner, she served in conflict zones, remote communities, and operational deployments before continuing that same mission among veterans and vulnerable civilians at home. She later became the first woman appointed Honorary Colonel of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, extending her role from caregiver to institutional mentor.
Joining the CAF in 1987, Quinn advanced her professional education through military service, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master’s degree as a primary health care nurse practitioner. Her leadership culminated in five years as CAF Nurse Practitioner Lead, where she helped formalize the nurse practitioner role within military healthcare — a contribution recognized through her appointment to the Order of Military Merit.
Her operational career spanned demanding environments including Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, and Afghanistan, as well as isolated First Nations and Inuit communities in Northern Ontario and the Yukon.
These experiences shaped her belief that medical care in uniform extends beyond treatment to trust, stability, and reassurance in uncertain conditions.
Physical endurance and resilience marked her service as well. In 1993 she joined an eight-person military team that carried a stretcher over 270 kilometres non-stop, entering Guinness World Records — as the only woman participant in the event.
After retiring in 2008, Quinn continued serving her community in Peterborough. She founded the Brock Mission Primary Care Clinic providing free medical care and medications to homeless individuals, including veterans. She then raised over $250,000 to sustain the program before transitioning it from a nurse practitioner to physician-run model in 2025.
She also guides veterans through complex benefits processes and frequently speaks to new Veterans Affairs Canada staff about the realities faced by former members. She further contributed formal testimony to the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs study on the experiences of women veterans that led to the report Invisible No More. The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans.
Her service extends beyond veterans. Since 2015 she has helped sponsor and support the settlement of more than two dozen Syrian and displaced Iraqi refugees into the Peterborough community.
She also volunteered as a Nurse Practitioner at Camp Maple Leaf for children of fallen CAF members, reinforcing her commitment to military families.
Across military and civilian roles, Quinn’s impact rests in continuity: the same compassion guiding battlefield medicine now supports veterans, families, and newcomers to Canada. She encourages younger professionals to serve with empathy, remain persistent, and remember that helping others is a lifelong responsibility rather than a career phase.
Quinn was jointly nominated by Brigadier-General (Retired) Gregory B. Mitchell, Honorary Colonel R. Kenneth Armstrong, and Ms. Michelle Ferreri.
