Board of Directors

Officers
Richard Nunn, Chair
Sharon Barkley, Vice Chair
Wendy Millar, Treasurer
Denise Hardenne, Secretary

Directors
Pankaj Arora
Dr. Dalal Aziz
Charlotte Burke
Mayor Rob Burton
Councillor Zeeshan Hamid
Samantha Horn
Councillor Jon Hurst
Dr. Hanif Jamal
Judy Linton
Dr. David McConachie
Ken McDermot
John W. Nyholt
Laurent Thibault
Jennifer Tindale
Riccardo Trecroce
Dr. Michael Zettler

Back Row: Laurent Thibault, Dr. Michael Zettler, Pankaj Arora, Councillor Zeeshan Hamid, John W. Nyholt, Charlotte Burke, Chris Montague, Councillor Jon Hurst, Dr. Hanif Jamal, Ken McDermot, Jennifer Tindale Front Row: Wendy Millar, Denise Hardenne, Richard Nunn, Sharon Barkley, Dr. Lorne Martin, Samantha Horn Missing from Photo: Dr. Dalal Aziz, Mayor Rob Burton
Photo taken in June 2019 

Board of Directors Biographies

Richard Nunn is a senior client service partner at Deloitte specializing in the financial services industry and has over 28 years’ experience in the UK and Canada. Richard has held multiple management roles within Deloitte, providing audit and risk consulting to many of Canada’s leading businesses. Richard was previously the Managing Partner of the Toronto Audit & Advisory practice from 2008-2011 and is past chairman of the Panel Auditors’ Committee of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization.

Richard is currently Chair of University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation and past Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto. He served on the board of the Oakville Hospital Foundation and was Chair of its Finance Committee.

Richard joined the Board in 2013 and was appointed Chair in June 2019.

Sharon Barkley is an entrepreneur with a long history of commitment to her community. She has served as a Town Councillor in the Town of Milton and as Chair of Milton Hydro.

Sharon was also the Chair of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – Halton. A graduate of Western University, Sharon has furthered her education in the MBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business, and corporate governance at the Schulich School of Business.

Sharon joined the Board in 2016 and was appointed Vice Chair in June 2019.

Wendy Millar, Treasurer

Wendy Millar recently retired as the Chief Risk Officer and Head of Retail and Business Banking Credit Risk for Personal and Commercial Banking at Bank of Montreal (BMO) Financial Group. For more than thirty years, she held various leadership roles in enterprise risk and portfolio management and in the personal and commercial banking group.

Her experience includes leading teams in retail and commercial banking, product management and credit risk, in addition to managing the Bank’s high-risk consumer and commercial accounts. Wendy is a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Board and chairs their Risk Committee.

Wendy has been a board member for a number of non-profit organizations including the University of Guelph and the Children's Aid Foundation as well as boards of subsidiaries and joint ventures for BMO.

Wendy is a graduate of the University of Guelph’s BA and MA programs in Economics and a Certified Director (ICD.D). Wendy joined the Board in 2019 and chairs the Finance & Audit Committee.

An accomplished veteran health executive, Denise Hardenne has held progressively more senior roles at Halton Healthcare for almost two decades, culminating in her current position as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Previously, she served in several senior capacities in the Saskatchewan health system. For over 20 years, Denise has been a surveyor with Accreditation Canada since 1998, helping peer organizations enhance their performance and effectiveness; she was also a consultant to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, advising on hospital operations.

During her tenure at Halton Healthcare, Denise has overseen the organization’s growth to over 6,500 staff, physicians and volunteers, receiving approximately a half billion dollars in annual funding and its transformation, becoming an organization with a strong focus on delivering exemplary patient experiences, always.

Denise has also delivered three major capital projects with a total value of $3.36 billion at Halton Healthcare, including the new 1.6 million square foot Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, the modernized Georgetown Hospital and the expanded Milton District Hospital. Her expertise in planning and operational readiness has ensured not only on-time and on-budget delivery of these projects but also the smooth opening of the new facilities.

Denise holds an MBA from Queen’s University and an MCED and BSN from the University of Saskatchewan. She has also been a Management for Chief Nursing Executives Fellow at the Wharton School of Business and completed the Not-for-Profit Governance Essentials program at the Rotman School of Business. Denise has published and presented extensively on many aspects of hospital operations.

Pankaj Arora (B.Eng, MBA, MMA) comes to Halton Healthcare as a global leader, having worked in the United States, India and Canada, acquiring over 20 years of people management experience. Pankaj currently holds the title of Vice President Transformation at CIBC. He has previously held leadership roles in other large corporations, such as GE Capital, Dell Canada and the TD Bank.

Pankaj joined the Board in 2016 and represents the Town of Milton.

Dr. Dalal Aziz is a general surgeon at Milton District Hospital. After completing her residency in General Surgery, she did research at the Hospital for Sick Children followed by a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Toronto (Sunnybrook and Women’s College campus). Dr. Aziz is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and of the American Society of Breast Surgeons.

Dr. Aziz joined the Board as an ex-officio Director.

Charlotte Burke (BA, MBA, ICD.D) is an independent director serving on the boards of Coast Capital Savings, Horizon, Halton Health Services and formerly OLG, Postmedia and Acadia University. Currently the President of Stanhope Consulting, advising companies on growth strategies through innovation and digital adoption.

Charlotte has over 25 years of executive experience leading high growth technology firms including Microsoft Canada, Bell Canada’s Internet and Mobility businesses, Hewlett Packard and Sony Corporation. Most recently she was a member of Microsoft Canada’s leadership team focused on helping Canadian businesses with digital transformation through technology partnerships. Her extensive expertise leading technology transformation will be of great benefit as the healthcare sector ventures further into the digital world.

Charlotte joined the Board in 2016.

Rob Burton has been Oakville’s Mayor since 2006, with a mandate to control growth, debt and taxes, protect green spaces and the environment and make Oakville Canada’s most livable town. Some of the Mayor’s initiatives encompass Halton’s Natural Heritage Systems, Energy Management and Air Quality.

Mayor Burton also co-founded the Municipal Leaders for the Greenbelt. Before running for public office, Rob Burton was a director and producer in journalism, film and television, and is best known for starting YTV. Rob serves on several other Halton Boards, such as Community Housing, Children’s Aid Society, Regional Police Services, Oakville Hydro and Tree Canada. Rob avidly supports Oakville’s sports, arts and culture groups and charities.

Mayor Burton joined the Board in 2007 as the representative from Oakville Town Council.

Zeeshan Hamid has served two terms as a Town Councillor and was elected as a Milton Regional Councillor in October. In his day job he runs a software development group in Amazon for its Last Mile Delivery business. He currently serves as a Director for Halton Community Housing Corporation, Conservation Halton, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton & Hamilton.

Councillor Hamid joined the Board in 2019 as the representative from Milton Town Council.

Samantha Horn is a partner in the Toronto office of Stikeman Elliott LLP where she has practiced corporate and commercial law for 24 years. Her practice is primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and private equity and venture capital financing. Ms. Horn is a member of the Toronto office's Management Committee and formerly served as co-head of the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Private Equity Group.

Samantha obtained her law degree at Queen’s University and has received the Women's Executive Network's Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award in the "KPMG Professionals" category for 2014, 2015 and 2016 and in the Hall of Fame in 2017, which recognizes women who play a leadership role within their organization.

Samantha joined the Board in 2017 and represents the Town of Oakville.

Jon Hurst has been a Councillor with the Town of Halton Hills since 2003, representing Ward 1, Acton. He is currently chair of the Halton Hills Accessibility Advisory Committee, serves as Council Liaison to the Hillsview Active Living Centre (Acton Seniors), and is a member of the Community Affairs Committee and the Acton Arena Steering Committee. Jon is a co-founder and Chair of the Acton Terry Fox Run Committee, a co-founder and member of the organizing committee for the Paul Murr Memorial Golf Tournament for Cancer, and has done extensive volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity Halton.

He was Acton Citizen of the Year in 1992, and again in 2014 together with the other cancer tournament committee members.

Councillor Hurst joined the Board in 2006 as the representative from Halton Hills Council.

Dr. Hanif Jamal has been a Hospitalist at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital since 2006 and an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University Department of Family Medicine. He is the Medical Director of Iasis Health Management as well as the Health Innovation Lead and Executive Health Physician at Cleveland Clinic Canada. He also serves as Board Director for the Natural Health Products Research Society of Canada since 2015.

Dr. Jamal is a current member of the Oakville Hospital Foundation Board where he also serves on the Governance Committee. Dr. Jamal has been serving on the Professional Staff Association Executive since 2013 and was appointed Vice-President of the Oakville Site in 2017. He currently serves on the Fiscal Advisory Committee, Continuing Medical Education Committee, Credentialing Committee, Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and Medical Advisory Committee at Halton Healthcare.

Dr. Jamal joined the Board as an ex-officio Director in 2017 and is a Vice President of the Professional Staff Association representing Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital.

Judy began her career as a registered nurse in critical care. She has held progressively more responsible positions in the management and leadership of clinical care, most recently as the VP Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Executive at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener. Previously Judy held strategic, provincial level roles at Cancer Care Ontario and the Ontario Renal Network and numerous clinical operational and consulting roles at The Hospital for Sick Children, PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Toronto.

While at Cancer Care Ontario, Judy worked with the 14 regional cancer programs and helped design the quality reporting system. She also led the development of the fourth Ontario Cancer Plan and the first Ontario Renal Plan. Her focus is on the provision of high quality care and the best possible patient and family experience. Judy works collaboratively with physicians and hospital staff to design, implement and evaluate innovative, safe care for patients. She brings experience from multiple clinical settings and from the system perspective through her leadership role in provincial cancer and renal care. Judy recently provided leadership in the planning and implementation of a new information system, designed to facilitate the provision of safer and more efficient care

Since joining Halton Healthcare in 1993, Dr. McConachie has held several critical medical leadership roles and maintained a busy clinical practice. Dr. McConachie has been instrumental in shaping the current OTMH medical model of care, has led transformational changes in many programs and departments and most recently was a key lead in the Cancer Clinic review and medical manpower expansion He has extensive credentialing and physician performance management experience, has mentored several medical professionals, and has been an active member on a number of internal and external committees including Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Intensive Care and Mississauga Halton LHIN-CV Steering Committee. Dr. McConachie will continue his clinical practice as a Cardiologist and Intensivist, bringing his expertise to all three hospitals. Dr. McConachie is dedicated to exemplary patient and family focused care, the growth of our collaborative culture and the on-going development of an inclusive medical staff team across all of our hospitals and community locations.

Ken McDermot (BBA) is a proud Milton community business leader and deeply cares about community healthcare. He is the owner and General Manager of PuroClean in Milton, a Regional Director and Advisory Board Member for PuroClean Canada and has been instrumental in growing PuroClean to 35 locations across Canada.

Ken is the past Chair and a current member of the Georgetown Hospital Foundation Board.

Ken joined the Board in 2016 and represents the Town of Halton Hills.

John Nyholt was a Partner of PwC LLP in Toronto, and retired in 2013 after a 35 year career. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant with extensive accounting, finance and deal experience, including mergers, acquisitions, cross-border and global transactions, financings and turnarounds. He was the National Leader of PwC Canada’s Transaction Services group from 2007-2012. John completed the Director Education Program of the Institute of Corporate Directors, and holds the ICD.D designation.

He serves as Board Chair of two investment funds focused on financing fast growing development stage companies. He has considerable community volunteer experience and currently serves on the Board of various organizations in and around the Oakville area, including ClearView Church, the Christian School Foundation of Canada, and The Compass.

John joined the Board in June 2011, served as Chair from June 2017 to June 2019 and represents the Town of Oakville.

Laurent Thibault was Chief Economist and then President of the Canadian Manufacturers’ Association where he was a strong advocate for developing a skilled labour force. In 1991 he became the Co-chair of the Canadian Labour Force Development Board and in 1995, Laurent moved to a new career as a Financial Advisor with one of Canada's leading firms. Laurent’s board governance experience is extensive.

He has served on the Boards of Skills-Compétences Canada, WorldSkills International, McMaster University, Canadian Foundation for Economic Education, William Osler Health Centre, Canadian Association for Business Economics. Laurent is also involved with many cultural and community associations locally and sits on several Town of Halton Hills committees. He is Past Chair of the Georgetown Hospital Foundation and was named the Lions Club “Georgetown Citizen of the Year” for 2011.

Laurent joined the Board in 2012 and represents the Town of Halton Hills.

Jennifer Tindale is the Chief Legal Officer of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. a North American diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility with $10 billion of total assets. Jennifer has over 20 years of experience advising public companies on acquisitions, dispositions, mergers, financings, corporate governance and disclosure matters.

From July 2011 to February 2017, Ms. Tindale was the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary at a cross-listed real estate investment trust. Prior to that, she was Vice President, Associate General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at a public Canadian based pharmaceutical company and before that she was a partner at a top tier Toronto law firm, practicing corporate securities law.

Jennifer joined the Board in 2011 and represents the Town of Milton.

Ricardo Trecroce is a senior lawyer and business leader. He recently retired as Executive Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer for Magna International Inc. He brings more than 30 years executive experience as counsel to executive teams and extensive experience in corporate governance, strategy and compliance. Mr. Trecroce has been recognized for providing clear and practical advice, leading effective negotiations and fostering an ethical corporate culture.

Mr. Trecroce joined the Board in June 2020.

Dr. Michael Zettler is an Emergency Physician and Hospitalist at Georgetown Hospital. He is vice-president of the Professional Staff Association representing Georgetown Hospital and was appointed to the Halton Healthcare Board as an ex-officio Director in 2019.

Dr. Zettler is also a member of the Georgetown Hospital Foundation Board.
 

Board Meetings

The Halton Healthcare Board of Directors generally meets on the second Thursday of every month from September through to June. Members of the public are permitted to attend the open meeting as observers only. If you would like to attend an open meeting please contact the Board Liaison for details.

Become a Board Member

If you are interested in becoming a Board Director you may send your resume to the Board Liaison Office at any time to be kept on file until a vacancy arises.

Contact the Board

You may contact the Board Chair in writing at:

Richard Nunn, Halton Healthcare Chair
c/o Board Liaison Office
Halton Healthcare
3001 Hospital Gate Oakville, ON L6M 0L8

You may contact the Board Liaison at:

Anne-Marie Radford
Board Liaison Office
Halton Healthcare
3001 Hospital Gate
Oakville, ON L6M 0L8
Email: aradford@haltonhealthcare.com

Please direct all media enquiries to the Communications & Public Affairs Department.