Michelle Blakely, PhD, has assumed her new role as president of Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, Ill., and Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago.
In her new role, Dr. Blakely leads both hospitals, which are part of Advocate Aurora Health, a system dually headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee. She began the position Oct. 1.
Now, she aims to ensure the hospitals continue to be "destination sites" for healthcare in communities she considers her own, Dr. Blakely said, according to The Daily Southtown.
"It is exciting — this notion of real gratification," she told the publication. "I believe everything's in divine order. I'm always looking out for: How did I land in a place? And this feels like a gift. It's a gift to me to have had such a long career as a healthcare administrator and then to find myself in a position to serve the very community where I live and where I grew up. It's quite gratifying and fun."
Previously, Dr. Blakely was president of Aurora Medical Center–Grafton (Wis.), according to a September news release shared with Becker's. She also served as COO of Chicago-based Norwegian American Hospital, now known as Humboldt Part Health.