Linda Groah is executive director and CEO of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, a member organization of NQF since 2007. A leader in perioperative nursing practice, education, and executive management, Groah has contributed her expertise as an NQF representative on the CMS Partnership for Patients, a national public-private initiative to improve healthcare safety and quality.

Throughout her career, Linda has focused on improving patient safety. At Kaiser Permanente-San Francisco, she introduced and piloted several patient safety initiatives including walking rounds for administration and the implementation of the "Just Culture" concept, an environment where actions are analyzed to ensure that individual accountability is established and appropriate actions are taken.

Groah previously served as the COO and nurse executive of the Kaiser Foundation Hospital-San Francisco; director of nursing at the OR-PACU-Surgery Center at the University of California San Francisco Hospitals and Clinics; and the OR director at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Ga.