UIC MHA Newsletter Issue 5

MARCH 2025 | ISSUE 5

UIC MHA NEWSLETTER An official publication of the University of Illinois Chicago Master of Healthcare Administration program

Further Growth of the UIC MHA Program The 2024-25 academic year started strong. We welcomed a new cohort of MHA students and kicked off the year with a student mentoring matching event hosted by the Association of Future Healthcare Administrators (AFHA) in September. In November, six MHA students led the event planning for our annual ACHE CHEF Networking Event hosted at UIC. The event was a huge success, with over one hundred attendees! Many UIC Alumni and Advisory Board members attended the event as representatives from Chicago-area healthcare association, consulting, insurance, and technology companies.

This past January, AFHA hosted our annual Preceptorship Fair to kick off the preceptorship matching process. The UIC MHA Alumni Council is sponsoring two MHA students to attend Becker’s Annual Meeting. We are planning a UIC MHA Alumni and Friends event during Becker’s Annual Meeting at the end of April. Look for save the dates soon. Also, I am very excited to announce that the fully online UIC Professional MHA program is launching this fall. Long-time UIC MHA adjunct faculty member, Katie Carow, will serve as Program Director of this track. Last but not least, the program had a very successful site visit as part of the CAHME re-accreditation process.

We are anticipating a seven-year re-accreditation. Many thanks to the UIC MHA faculty, students, staff, Alumni Council, and Advisory Board for all your support!

Adam Andersen, DPT, MBA UIC MHA Program Director

STUDENTS Our residential students have been very busy this year and taking leadership roles in networking and programmatic events.

In November, CHEF Student Leadership from UIC MHA hosted another successful ACIT CHEF event. We hosted 15 organizations, many of which are partners of the program as alumni and/or preceptors, and over 100 attendees from programs in and around Chicago. Student leadership was honored by CHEF at the Annual Meeting with the Health Studies Student/Administrative Fellow Leadership Award.

Student teams participated in the National Association of Health Services Executives (N.A.H.S.E.) 29th Annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Analysis and Presentation Competition in October and the University of Alabama Health Administration Case Competition in February. Although we did not make the finals, we are proud of the efforts of our students.

Health Studies Student/Administrative Fellow Leadership Award: Chirag Rana, Jennifer Perez, and Ruben Sauer Calvo.

Finally, in January, AFHA leadership hosted the Preceptorship Fair for first-year residential students to help prepare them for this integral part of their educational journey.

Students are looking for jobs and preceptorship placements.

Please share any opportunities to us at AskHPA@uic.edu.

STUDENT EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS SAVE THE DATE(S) April 30, 2025: UIC MHA Networking Reception after Becker’s Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency, West Tower, in the Wrigley Room from 6 PM to 8 PM (CST). Register to attend at: https://publichealth.uic.edu/2025-mha-program-receptionat-beckers-annual-meeting/ May 6, 2025: Residential student graduation dinner at the Greek Islands. Festivities begin at 6 PM (CST).

August 1, 2025: Deadline for Online MHA for professionals.

ALUMNI Thank you to our alumni who continue to give back to the program. This past Academic Year (2024-2025), alums have provided support as adjunct lectures, guest speakers in our courses, Preceptors to our students, Advisory Board members, and through their work on the UIC MHA Alumni Council.

The Alumni Council will again select and sponsor two students from the graduating cohort to attend Becker’s Annual Meeting at the end of April, free of charge. They also would like to invite all alumni to join them at the UIC MHA Reception on April 30th from 6 PM to 8 PM to network and reconnect. Invitations have Heather Afriyie-Bassuah graduated with the 2018 UIC MHA cohort and completed her Doctorate in Healthcare Administration (DHA) from Walden earlier this year (2025). She has worked at GE HealthCare for the last 6+ years in a leadership role. This past October 2024, Heather served as the NAHSE Case Competition Co-chair and continues to promote and participate with this organization, since her membership in 2016. Finally, Heather serves as a member of the UIC MHA Alumni Council.

been sent out. Please let us know if you did not receive an invitation.

Continue to let us know what you would like to have the program do for our twentieth year celebration (first class matriculated in 2005).

FACULTY As mentioned in our summer newsletter (issue 3), the division of Health Policy and Administration (HPA - MHA’s home unit at UIC) welcomed four new faculty. Of these new faculty, two are part of our MHA Core Faculty (Zhuoer Lin & Justin Markowski). We are so excited to feature Zhuoer Lin. Assistant Professor Dr. Lin earned his Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management (Economics Track) from Yale University. His dissertation received Distinction from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and was awarded the PhD Research Prize for outstanding dissertation research in 2024. Dr. Lin's research focuses on understanding the life course social determinants of (cognitive) aging and how public policy can address racial, ethnic, sociodemographic, and geographic disparities in (cognitive) health and healthcare. His research paper, Absence of care among community-dwelling older adults with dementia and functional limitations, was published this month in Nature Aging.

PhD Research Prize for outstanding dissertation research in 2024.

This paper provides the first comparative evidence on dementia care across 20+ countries, revealing that at least one-fifth of older adults with dementia and functional limitations receive no assistance with daily activities. Care deficits persist globally, spanning both basic and instrumental activities of daily living, as well as informal and formal care. Disparities are evident, with care gaps particularly high among less-educated individuals and those living alone. These findings highlight the urgent need for policies to reduce inequities and expand access to essential care services worldwide.

We are so grateful for the scientific research Dr. Lin provides for our communities and the transformative work applied to learning in the classroom.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS Practitioner Faculty Spotlight Dr. April Scott Read joined us this Spring to teach our Healthcare Human Resource Management course (HPA 425). With over 15 years of experience spanning human resources, organizational psychology, and leadership development, Dr. Read brings a dynamic blend of strategic insight and real-world expertise to the classroom. She holds the SHRM-SCP and SHRM AI + HI Specialty credentials, reflecting her commitment to staying at the forefront of both people and technology in the workplace.

Currently, Dr. Read serves as the Chief Organizational Psychologist at her consulting firm, where she partners with leaders and teams to solve complex challenges through innovative, humancentered strategies. She also leads the Organizational Development department at UI Health, a team she built from the ground up, driving high-impact talent initiatives that have elevated engagement, performance, and culture across the organization.

A proud lifelong learner (and self-proclaimed “professional chaos coordinator”), Dr. Read earned her Doctorate in Business Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, where she has also served as adjunct faculty. She is certified in DiSC, MBTI, PROSCI Change Management, and more—because she believes that understanding people is just as essential as understanding processes.

In HPA 425, Dr. Read is connecting the dots between HR strategy and the evolving demands of healthcare. Students explore vital topics like talent management, employee engagement, and organizational culture—alongside cutting-edge discussions on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming HR functions, from optimizing recruitment to reimagining workforce planning.

Known for her engaging teaching style and passion for practical application, Dr. Read equips students with not only frameworks and best practices but also candid “what not to do” lessons drawn from her own journey.

...because understanding people is just as important as understanding processes.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. April Scott Read to the UIC School of Public Health community!

Learn more about the UIC MHA program: https://publichealth.uic.edu/academics/public-healthdegrees/master-healthcare-administration/ For further information, contact: AskHPA@uic.edu