Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health

Dr. Vivien Suttorp

Dr. Vivien Suttorp has extensive experience working in public health in Alberta, consistently providing expert advice and guidance to support decision-making and response efforts in the province.

Before becoming Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, she served as the lead medical officer of health for South Zone for 17 years, overseeing a region that stretches from the border with Saskatchewan in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.

Dr. Suttorp received both her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of British Columbia, specializing in microbiology and immunology for her undergraduate degree. She completed her family medicine residency at the University of Calgary. She is recognized as a Canadian Certified Physician Executive in her physician leadership roles over these years.

As the lead medical officer of health for the South Zone, Dr. Suttorp has led the efforts to prevent, prepare and respond to diverse public health needs and emerging issues, including pertussis, measles, mumps, shigella, COVID-19, and the 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) epidemic—as well as environmental emergencies and infection control issues.

In addition, Dr. Suttorp has dedicated much time to undergraduate and graduate teaching, instructing, coaching and mentoring public health students, medical students and public health and preventive medicine residents. She received the University of Lethbridge’s Friends of Health Sciences award for her dedication to public health education, as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for her contributions to health care in Alberta.

Dr. Suttorp is a mother of two, an outdoor enthusiast, a keen musician and is fluent in Dutch and German.