Remembering Rita Harden

A letter from Tom Roberts

For those of you who knew Rita Harden the words I write will not be surprising or tell you much you do not already know, and for those of you not familiar with Rita, I wish you could have known her.

Rita graduated high school on Saturday, May 21, 1983, and started work at Cook Incorporated the following Monday, on May 23. She continued her work at Cook until her passing on September 4, 2019. Her contributions to the company’s success can never be fully measured, but trust me, they were significant.

The work Rita did was important. She had a direct connection with our customers when they needed help, she communicated vital information from customers to her coworkers, and she developed and maintained open and transparent relationships with regulatory authorities. Occasionally, we would ask Rita to execute and maintain records of product recalls or other types of field actions. In addition, when claims were made against the company, when a customer or a patient would ask for compensation, she would work with our lawyers to manage those issues. Even in cases where they didn’t ask, if she thought we should compensate someone for an issue, or provide them credit or replacements, she would offer it. She was extremely capable of doing all of these things; she managed a very large workload without hesitation or resistance. She just got things done, and it was always with the best interest of the patient and the company in mind.

During her time with Cook, as the company grew, she also grew; from the one we always leaned on to do this work to the one we asked to teach others to do it. Rita was not only capable of doing work, she had an easy way of communicating to and educating others to make them capable as well. She visited many of the Cook locations around the world, working with people to ensure Cook’s values were kept at the center of all we do. I was lucky to have traveled with her to many of those places and to see how she exemplified our respect for each other, our demand for quality, and our dedication to acting with integrity, taking responsibility for our mistakes and celebrating our successes. No matter what the cultural differences or the language barriers, she was always recognized as a leader and respected for the way she led.

Rita didn’t hold any patents associated with any of our products, and she didn’t direct any design improvements or advancements in the way we manufacture our products. To my knowledge, she did not contribute directly to the production of any product. She did, however, have an impact on product quality and the overall success of the company. Rita spent most of her career in the customer-facing side of the business. Specifically, she led teams of folks (Customer Relations) around the world that recorded complaints, facilitated the investigation of those complaints by gaining information from the customer, and then communicated our investigation findings back to the customer.

She worked tirelessly and successfully to globalize our complaint-handling system (known as Trackwise) to facilitate the collection and sharing of information across Cook efficiently and effectively. She led the transition from many independent and disconnected systems to one globally connected system. Her leadership during that transition was amazing.

One of the complaints her teams received led to a lawsuit being filed against Cook and culminated in a jury trial in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2014. Because of her involvement in the complaint-handling process, Rita was called to testify in the trial. The jury found in favor of Cook, and after the verdict was read, the court bailiff mentioned to me, Michelle Robison, and our outside counsel, Doug King, that Cook was a company he could work for. He said the folks that represented us in that trial, including Rita, had convinced the jury of our dedication to the patient and to doing the right thing. The jury was particularly influenced by Rita’s honesty, integrity, and care for the patient. They had affectionately referred to her during deliberations as “June Cleaver.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with that name, June Cleaver was a very admired television character in the ’60s. True story.

Rita was the daughter of Everett and Betty Kerr, farmers in northern Monroe county. She spoke often of her parents, telling me how they worked sunup to sundown during planting and harvesting seasons, and while in their 80s they were still working. That must have been where her work ethic came from. She always came to work early and often stayed late. I hadn’t met her parents until her funeral service. I thanked them for raising such a beautiful person. Wish I could do more for them.

I have gotten to know her husband Troy over the years. He is a great guy, and they were inseparable, always going somewhere and doing things together. I hadn’t met Rita’s four grandchildren, but I certainly had heard a lot about them. She often told me how excited she was for the weekend because she and Troy were going to have the grandkids.

Since her passing, I’ve spoken with a lot of people that were lucky enough to work with Rita. Without exception, they saw her as smart, kind, reliable, diligent, ethical, beautiful, and as a lovely person.

Without exception, we are heartbroken.

Tom Roberts

A letter from Derek Voskuil

I met Rita a few weeks into my Cook career, when I was asked to compile complaint and other data as part of something new: technical files for Europe. Rita was the one I was sent to for the complaint data. From our first encounter, even though I was a relatively young newcomer with much to learn, Rita exemplified professionalism: She was respectful and polite; she took the time to contextualize the information we were discussing, and asked me enough questions to ensure that I was doing something that would help Cook in our mission to help save patient lives. Even better, she listened. I came away grateful for her help and guidance, and with the impression that Rita was extremely competent.

After that first encounter, Rita and I interacted to varying degrees and depths, depending on our roles at any given time, for the next 22 years. Over the course of our interactions, Rita became, for me, as I suspect she did for others, representative of the things about our shared life at Cook that I most appreciate. Rita was unfailingly friendly; her smile was never faked, and always present. Rita took personal accountability for getting her work done well; she stayed late and came in early, if needed, because she believed in what we do together, and knew she personally made a difference. Rita had integrity; if she said she would do something, she did it. Rita treated everyone with respect, inside and outside the company; even though communicating and working through complaint issues is inherently complex and taxing, she never let her own stress or energy level affect how she treated others. Because she acted out our values, because she represented the best of how we work together, Rita always gave me a boost, even if we were discussing difficult issues, like an adverse event. She made work pleasant. She made work fun.

Rita Harden is Cook for me. I’m so happy I got to enjoy a few lunches with her in what were, unknowingly, her last few months on earth. We ate and laughed and blew off steam. Thank you, Rita. I’m so grateful our work lives intersected at Cook. Thank you, Rita, from all of us at Cook, for your exemplary time and service.

Derek Voskuil

A note from Ross Harvey

Rita was my global communications director, and for me, Rita was part of Cook’s DNA. We talk about the Cook values, and I know Rita exemplified all seven of them. Nothing was ever too hard for Rita. Even in difficult situations she would be upbeat and positive, finding the good in every situation. I am going to miss our friendly chats and most of all that infectious smile. She was one very special lady!

Ross Harvey

A letter from Rita’s families

Below is a letter sent to Cook employees by Rita’s families.

In memoriam

Below is a video commemorating some of Rita’s experiences at Cook with her coworkers and friends.

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