Summer Internship: Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center


By Jonathan Ortega (MHA '19) 
Greetings from The Windy City!
I have spent the past six weeks living minutes away from the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field in the beautiful neighborhood of Lakeview, and I have not been disappointed. This summer I have been able to intern at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, located on the North Side of Chicago. Illinois Masonic Medical Center is a 397 bed facility and is one of only four Level I Trauma Centers in the city of Chicago. They hold a spot on Watson Health’s 2018 100 Top Hospitals list, awarded Magnet Recognition since 2008, and recognized as leaders in LGBTQ Health Equality by the Human Rights Campaign since 2011. As a system, Advocate Health Care is a faith based, not-for-profit health system that is the largest in Illinois. Advocate recently merged with Wisconsin based Aurora Health Care to become the 10th largest not-for-profit health system in the country. 
I am fortunate to be interning under the supervision of Susan Nordstrom-Lopez, President of Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. She has been a wonderful resource and has helped me maximize my experience so far. Spending the summer learning from an experienced and proven leader has been extremely valuable for a young careerist like myself. She has provided me with daily exposure to meetings with hospital leadership that have helped me gain a better understanding of the healthcare delivery process. I also have been able to have individual meetings with the executive team and the directors of each department within the hospital. 
To ensure I have a comprehensive learning experience, I have been tasked with a few projects within the hospital. These projects include assisting with an Emergency Department throughput optimization project, assisting with grant application for the hospitals patient navigation program, and a central scheduling outbound capture project. These projects have provided me a great opportunity to work with some fantastic individuals and has allowed me to apply the knowledge and skills I have acquired from the MHA curriculum. 
Outside of work, I have been able to take advantage of everything Chicago has to offer. I have spent time at street festivals, local restaurants, and baseball games. Although I am a Chicago White Sox fan, the atmosphere of Wrigleyville during a Cubs day game is one of a kind. I also have solidified my belief that Gino’s East has the best deep dish pizza in town.
There has never been a dull moment since I started my internship and I look forward to having a wonderful July.      

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