News

College hosts health care leader Dale Baker

Published on March 6, 2015

portrait of Dale Baker
Dale Baker

The College of Public Health was pleased to host a daylong visit by distinguished UI alumnus Dale Baker on Thursday, March 5. The visit highlighted Baker’s expertise as one of the nation’s leading health care consultants, as well as interests he and his wife, Linda, share in global health.

Baker, a graduate of the UI Tippie College of Business, is president of Baker Healthcare Consulting, Inc. (BHC), an Indianapolis-based consulting firm serving over 1,000 acute care hospitals in 44 states since 1990. BHC specializes in advising clients on Medicare geographic reclassification and wage index matters. Baker is also a registered federal lobbyist, working with hospitals and hospital associations nationwide on Medicare payment issues.

Dale and Linda, also a UI alumnus, are strong backers of UI students, having recently established a scholarship program that supports volunteer service opportunities in Romania. Linda Baker traveled to Romania with the UI Alumni Association in 2005 to work for three weeks in an orphanage and was so moved by the experience that she established the scholarship. (See more here.)

On Thursday, Dale Baker met with the CPH Executive Committee to discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand the College of Public Health’s teaching, research, and internship programs in global health. He also spoke to students in several classes in the Department of Health Management and Policy, including Medicare and Medicaid Policy, Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System, and a Contemporary Issues in Health Policy seminar. Baker counseled students on navigating their career through a landscape of changing health policy, advising them to see potential roadblocks as opportunities for growth.

“If you get the chance to become an entrepreneur, it’s amazing how people you know and have relationships with will want to help you,” Baker said. “It’s all about relationships.”