Nathalie Cadieux, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of The Ottawa Hospital, has been selected as CFO of the Year for 2023 by the Ottawa Board of Trade and the Ottawa Business Journal.
“I’m so honoured,” said Cadieux in an interview with OBJ Friday. “I was really speechless when the announcement was made.”
The 52-year-old chartered professional accountant has worked in the local health-care field for the past 25 years and has been with The Ottawa Hospital since 2002, when she came on board as manager of budget and reporting. She has steadily risen through the finance ranks of the hospital, taking over the CFO duties in 2015.
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For Ginger Bertrand, some of her earliest childhood memories in Ottawa are centred around healthcare. “I grew up across the street from what was originally the General Hospital,” she explains,
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Today, Cadieux is in charge of a growing annual budget of close to $1.6 billion and has responsibility for not just the hospital’s finance and related functions, but also part of its HR portfolio.
“As a finance professional, I probably could have worked in any industry, but I chose health care because of the focus on people and giving back to the community. That, to me, is so rewarding,” said Cadieux.
“Going to work every day is not a chore. I love my job. And so to get this award is just a huge bonus,” she added.
The annual CFO of the Year honour is awarded based on four major criteria. Candidates must be deemed to have taken “notable actions to maximize their company’s financial strength and growth during the period.” They must have “demonstrated commitment to achieving best practices in accounting and financial management,” and exhibited “success in overcoming significant business challenges.”
The fourth criteria is to have provided “an overall contribution to the well-being of the city and its business community.”
Cadieux recently became a board member with the Canadian Mental Health Association in Ottawa and serves on its finance committee. She sought that position as a way of sharing her experience with the community, she said.
“I’ve got over 25 years of experience and I really want to give back,” she said.
