Denise Kennedy

Denise Kennedy, age 59, went to Heaven from her home on Jan. 10, 2023, after a five-year endometrial cancer progression and while under Hospice care. Her husband, Arn, was at her side. Her life and medical career were filled with love and dedication to others.

Her allied healthcare career began at the bedside as a patient caregiver and has since included leadership roles in operations management, quality and process improvement, business development, services management/marketing, and concluding as a university professor. Most recently she was clinical professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, where she taught both graduate and undergraduate classes and directed the Graduate Capstone program. She was loved by her students and instrumental in helping them launch many highly successful careers.

Prior to that she was assistant professor of Healthcare Systems Engineering at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, where she served as Mayo Clinic Administrator for Patient Experience. It was in this role where she conceptualized, developed, tested and implemented a comprehensive data-driven model for improving service quality in healthcare. This model was implemented enterprise-wide at Mayo Clinic and at many other healthcare facilities around the world. Her foundation publication for this work was selected “Article of the Year” by the American College of Healthcare Executives, where she won the Edgar C. Hayhow Award for outstanding contributions to healthcare management literature. This article was also selected to represent the United States in an international “best articles” in healthcare publication.

Three of her key articles on improving service quality in healthcare have been downloaded from “Patient Experience Journal” more than 21,800 times by 2,060 organizations in 147 countries worldwide. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Quality Management, Journal of Patient Experience, Journal of Healthcare Management, Patient Experience Journal, Quality Progress, World Hospitals and Health Services and elsewhere.

She has been an invited speaker at conferences on service quality improvement in healthcare and has provided consultation and training to numerous healthcare leadership teams within and outside Mayo Clinic. She holds a graduate respiratory therapist degree from Northwestern University Medical School and a master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University.

Denise is survived by her husband, Arn (Arnold Hampel), an extensive loving family and numerous dear friends. A Celebration of Life will be held at her home, 16914 E. De Anza Dr. in Fountain Hills on June 17 at 9 a.m. All who know her are welcome. Casual dress.