Denise Hardenne
Denise Hardenne learned the importance of collaboration and leadership from a young age. Now, as the president and CEO of Halton Healthcare, she understands how much she can accomplish as a team player, especially in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic.
Growing up in Saskatchewan, Hardenne studied science and nursing at the University of Saskatchewan, where she also played on the varsity volleyball team. After graduating, Hardenne worked as a nurse at Royal University Hospital, where she eventually became a director of the burn unit. She then returned to the University of Saskatchewan to earn a Master of Continuing Education and, after working in several roles across the province, furthered her academic career by receiving an MBA at Queen’s University.
For more than 20 years, Hardenne has lived in Ontario while working at Halton Healthcare, taking on different responsibilities until being offered the position of president and CEO.
“We have a reputation of operational excellence and really rising to the challenge. We work together closely as a board of directors, senior leadership team, and professional staff. That’s really important in a healthcare organization,” Hardenne says. “We really do live out our values of compassion, accountability, and respect. It’s a special organization and I feel privileged every day to be in the position I’m in.”
In the seven years Hardenne has led Halton Healthcare, the organization’s operational budget has doubled to $500 million. She manages approximately 4,500 staff members, 1,600 volunteers, and 850 medical staff.
Throughout her career, Hardenne has had to rise to various challenges, including SARS and H1N1, along with health system transformations and decommissioning hospitals. However, responding and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of her greatest challenges thus far.
“I think a big part of it is the duration. We stood up our emergency operation centre on January 29, 2020, and it’s been over a year since the pandemic was declared,” Hardenne says. “I’m really proud of our hospitals and organization on how we’ve responded to the pandemic. I work with a lot of bright and talented people who are highly motivated and really collaborate well across all three sites of our organization.”
Those three parts of the Halton Healthcare organization include Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH), Milton District Hospital, and Georgetown Hospital. All three sites host priority testing and assessment centres, and Hardenne says OTMH has particularly done well, with turnaround time for results in less than a day.
In 2020, Hardenne and her team have also set up two internal field hospitals: a 40-bed field hospital in OTMH and a 12-bed hospital in Milton. In addition to these field hospitals, Halton Healthcare reached outside their walls to support congregate settings, like long-term retirement homes and group homes in the community.
“We set up these in Halton and Peel regions,” Hardenne says. “We’ve been doing risk assessments in homes, providing support for risk infection and control, supporting PPE practices, doing medical assessments on residents, providing support for clinical staff, and partnering with local leadership.”
In the last year, one of Hardenne’s proudest moments was in December 2020, when she was asked to set up the first vaccination centre in Halton. Halton received freezers to house the Pfizer vaccine and received the first inventory of the vaccine on December 21.
“We’ve delivered over 16,000 first and second doses of Pfizer vaccine through the centre and repurposed the east entrance of Oakville hospital and auditorium to serve that function,” Hardenne says. “We’ve been busy, and the team has really stepped up. I’m proud of our response to date, and I know we’ll be able to respond to further challenges.”
As much as she feels privileged to be a leader in the Halton community, Hardenne says she’s just as fortunate to be a daughter, sister, wife, and mother.
“My advice for women, men, and young people who are starting careers either early or later in life is, if you really want to do it, go for it,” Hardenne says. “Set goals, be courageous, and work hard. Have a set of values and use those as your touchstone.”
