Michelle Blakely, Ph.D., absolutely loves what she does. A leader in health care administration, she is currently president of Advocate Aurora Health’s Aurora Medical Center, a 132-bed tertiary care hospital in Grafton, Wisconsin. Previously, she worked for 20-plus years as a health care administrator with the U.S. government, where she retired as a senior executive with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is also a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Blakely has successfully steered large health organizations, overseeing operations and human resources. Clearly a skilled administrator, she also calls herself a frustrated psychologist.
“One of the things that totally intrigues me is the study of behavior—be it human behavior in an individual or organizational behavior. So given the path that I was on, The Chicago School’s programs in organizational behavior made perfect sense,” Dr. Blakely says.
While a master’s degree is typically the terminal credential in health administration, Dr. Blakely’s doctorate from The Chicago School opened new doors, gave her additional credibility among medical professionals, and set her up to later pursue teaching.
The Chicago School’s emphasis on putting learning into practice very much appealed to her. “I think it perfectly balances the practical application of what you’re learning with theory. I was thrilled to be sitting in a classroom and realize that the people who were teaching me had practical experience by which to inform the theory,” Dr. Blakely says. “I felt like I could contribute to the conversation in a way that helped clarify for me what I was living because it provided the theory that went along with my actual experience.”
Her experiences at The Chicago School have continued to frame her thinking by providing a humanistic lens, Chicago Campus to how she manages operations and human resources. Also important to Dr. Blakely was The Chicago School’s holistic and proactive approach to human wellness and focus on community.
“I think we have a responsibility in health care to get it right, so that we are taking care of people before they get to point of crisis,” Dr. Blakely says. “‘Well care’ isn’t expensive. It’s ‘sick care’ that’s expensive. We have an opportunity in this country to decrease the cost of health care, by being more thoughtful and intentional about what it looks like to take care of people while they are well, so they never become sick—or we minimize the amount of sickness that exists because we got there early. For those of us who have a life in health care, it’s in our blood to fix it.”
As a leader in health administration, she sees exciting opportunities for the field to innovate to help people live well and to ensure that every person has equal access to care. “If we really want to ensure that people have their best ability to live well, we need to put some infrastructure around them. It’s exciting to think about how we design that. What does that look like as we move forward so that we can afford it?”
Dr. Blakely shared her optimism for the future in her commencement remarks to some of The Chicago School’s newest graduates, where she emphasized that investments in education are key to new opportunities.
“Be bold and walk towards the destination of your choosing,” she told graduates. “You are an expert! You worked hard for this—embrace your power and continue to challenge assumptions. Leave our field of psychology and the world with an indelible mark. You can do whatever you can imagine. Please know, the world responds to your level of effort and repays with equal or greater dividends.” one is going to say ‘go celebrate your impact, your goals.’”
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