Joni B. Menard, DNP, MS, RN, CENP joined Dartmouth Hitchcock in 2015 as the Director of Nursing for the Dartmouth Cancer Center. She has since held leadership positions at Dartmouth Hitchcock including Director of Ambulatory Nursing, Vice President of Ambulatory Nursing, and Interim Chief Nursing Officer.
In her role at Dartmouth Hitchcock, Joni has established an ambulatory nursing leadership structure that includes operations, practice, and education for DHMC and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics. She demonstrated ambulatory nursing’s resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by standing up COVID treatment and vaccination clinics, while also supporting Ambulatory nurses’ temporary transition to providing inpatient care. In conjunction with Dartmouth Health’s Workforce Readiness Institute, she worked to create an innovative, best-in-class Medical Assistant career ladder, codifying scope of practice, governance, and oversight. She has increased DHMC’s influence through participation and leadership within the NH Board of Nursing and the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing.
Prior to joining Dartmouth Hitchcock, Joni worked at the Elliot Health System in Manchester, NH, for nearly 28 years. Initially, she worked as a direct-care registered nurse, then transitioned into nursing leadership, where she participated in the development of a shared governance model of professional nursing practice and a professional nurse advancement program. Additionally, she instituted the American Association of Colleges of Nursing clinical nurse leader role and administered a federally funded H1B grant for nursing education. She led the implementation of a nurse-driven ambulatory care coordination initiative at Elliot and increased the percentage of BSN-prepared nurses at the hospital by 50% over three years. During her last three years at the Elliot, Joni served as the Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services.
Joni earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Capella University and a Masters of Nursing and Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of New Hampshire.
Joni is an adjunct faculty member in Nursing at Colby-Sawyer College. She serves on the Board of the New Hampshire Hospital Association and is Vice-Chair of the NH Board of Nursing. She is also active in the Organization of Nurse Leaders, serving on its Board for a number of years. She is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders, the American Nurses Association, and the New Hampshire Nurses Association.
Joni and her husband, Roger, enjoy spending time with their children and five grandchildren, as well as cruising and visiting warm destinations.