Hospital CEO moves to public health

Hospital CEO John DeNardo (right) greets George Kondos, professor of medicine, at DeNardo’s farewell reception Aug. 27.

“The last 12 years have been among the most professionally rewarding of my life. I have also been fortunate to participate in teaching the next generation of health care leaders as adjunct faculty in both the College of Pharmacy and the School of Public Health,” wrote DeNardo in a farewell blog post to UI Hospital employees.

Before joining the University of Illinois Hospital in 2000, DeNardo was a pharmacist, pharmacy administrator and a top administrator at three Veterans Administration hospitals in the Chicago area.

He began his career in health care at UIC as a student in the College of Pharmacy, earning a bachelor’s in 1971 and a master’s in 1974, followed by a master’s of public health from the University of Michigan in 1984.

DeNardo said that during his time as CEO, one of his guiding principles was to treat people the way he would want to be treated.

He extended this to patients by always emphasizing that hospital staff and physicians should take care of patients “the way we would want our mother, father, sister or brother to be taken care of.”

“He cares about everyone at this place and it shows in all his interactions,” said Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, vice president for health affairs, at a farewell reception for DeNardo Aug. 27.