Conny Helder

Conny Helder (born 27 November 1958) is a Dutch healthcare manager, who has been serving as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet since 2024.

She was born in The Hague and trained to be a surgical assistant. She rose to managerial positions in hospitals and served as chair of the board of directors of an Eindhoven network of primary healthcare centers starting in 2010. Helder became director of tanteLouise, a major provider of elderly care in the Bergen op Zoom area, seven years later and was involved in a number of projects to renovate existing and construct new nursing homes. She also led a regional cooperation to promote innovations in the elderly care sector. tanteLouise was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached the Netherlands in February 2020. Helder, who had become a board member of the trade association ActiZ the month before, made frequent media appearances to comment on the pandemic and to advocate the association's positions.

When the fourth Rutte cabinet was formed, Helder was asked to join as Minister for Long-term Care and Sport on behalf of the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She was sworn in on 10 January 2022 and has proposed a plan to provide more elderly care at home rather than in nursing homes in reaction to the aging population of the Netherlands. She succeeded Ernst Kuipers as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in January 2024 following his resignation.