Alumni Profiles: Where are they now?
Goldie Rapp
When we think of the world of healthcare and hospitals, we think of the doctors, the nurses, the physical therapists – those who are treating and caring for patients. What we don’t think about are the people behind the scenes maintaining the health of business and operations inside the hospital.
Within this realm at the University of Chicago Medicine Center sits Blake Dobrich ’12, who holds the position of Senior Operations Manager. Dobrich joined UChicago Medicine in 2018 on an administrative fellowship and has been building a successful career in healthcare administration.
While immersed in the life of urban healthcare today, Dobrich embodies all that a St. Bede education can provide when its opportunities are utilized and translated into life after high school.
Many of the lessons and experiences gained during his four years at the Academy he has used in his career to work hard, never stop learning, respect others and strive to continuously improve the world around him.
After graduating from St. Bede Academy, Dobrich went on to Marquette University where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science. While gaining interest in healthcare policy, he decided to further his studies at Rush University, earning a Master’s Degree in health systems management. This opportunity opened his eyes to the business and operation functions within a hospital.
From Rush University, Dobrich pursued an administrative fellowship at UChicago Medicine, a two-year program, that allowed him to gain a deeper knowledge of the various departments within the hospital before being placed at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, IL where he dove into the workings of a community hospital and supported the executive team as business manager.
He was at Ingalls at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, where he became in charge of deploying employees around the region – upwards of 100 staff per-day. Then when vaccines became available, he transitioned to setting up and running the vaccine clinics.
When the pandemic slowed, Dobrich landed a spot on the operations excellence team back at the main campus of UChicago Medicine, where he’s been for the last three years. In this position, he leads a team of 10 individuals who work strategically to support the functions of the hospital and develop improvement plans for patient experience and inspections. A significant project the team is currently working on is fine-tuning processes and procedures to ensure they translate over to the new $800 million cancer center UChicago Medicine plans to open in 2027.
While an impressive career built on a strong passion for healthcare, Dobrich wouldn’t be where he is today without his education at St. Bede. Coming from the small, rural town of DePue, Dobrich didn’t know a lot of faces the first day he stepped foot on campus, but he used that as an opportunity to make new, meaningful friendships – many he still has today.
He took advantage of the dual credit college classes, which set him ahead at Marquette University when he went on to further his education. He was a member of the golf team, involved in student government and was selected to be student ambassador, which were all opportunities that taught him how to interact with people of diverse backgrounds and views on life. He attributes these skills to being able to navigate the complexities of corporate life in the hospital setting.
It’s also at St. Bede he gained a sense of curiosity and drive to want to learn new ideas and skills.
“You learn quickly there’s still a lot to know when you’re in high school. The monks teach you that. They are living their life dedicated to God, to St. Bede, to each other. You learn a lot from them in terms of how they contemplate things and think through challenges and translate it into educating students,” he said.
The rules of St. Benedict, such as Stability, Hospitality and Balance, which he learned from religion teacher Fr. Dominic Garramone, OSB and student chaplain, Fr. Ronald Margherio, OSB ’68, have stayed him as he continues to interpret their meanings in his everyday life to better friendships and work relationships.
While 12 years out of St. Bede, Dobrich is still a proud Bruin and an active member of the St. Bede community. He supports the annual auction, makes a point to attend sporting events when he’s home from Chicago, stays connected with the Alumni Association and has yet to miss a Homecoming celebration.
“Homecoming, to me, encapsulates what St. Bede is all about in one day,” he said.
His advice to current Bruins is to never hesitate going after what they’re interested in and to not be afraid to reach out to people who are already doing it. With St. Bede having such a large community, it presents a great opportunity for students to start having those conversations with someone within the St. Bede family.
“People want to help, especially someone from their own St. Bede community. There’s already a connection between one another – we’ve all gone through those halls, seen it, done it, been a part of the traditions … they will do what they can to help you out,” he said.