Mercy Home Hero Amanda Bradke exemplifies what it means to be a caregiver. And it’s safe to say she goes a long way in her efforts to help people in need. 
Bradke, who hails originally from Mulliken, Mich., works in internal medicine as a hospitalist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, located just across Interstate 290 from our boys home. In addition to her duties at Rush, Bradke and other Rush staff provide clinical care and checkups for former Mercy Home residents and families participating in our Community Care program.
“I enjoy that part of my job,” Bradke said. “It’s incredibly valuable to take healthcare to where people are, to make it more accessible and more comfortable.”
Mercy Home and Rush University Medical Center have partnered for many years. Rush played a key role in offering critical health safety support during the COVID-19 pandemic, including advice, testing, vaccines, and PPE.
In past years, our youth took part in the Rush NeuroBehavioral Center’s Executive Functions program to help our kids develop skills and strategies for academic success.
Prior to the pandemic, Rush connected the Home with a full-time staff nurse. And last year, our kids got to shadow nurses at Rush and learn more about nursing careers.
“We feel strongly about providing care where people are at,” Bradke said.
Our Community Care coworkers are grateful to Bradke and the other health care providers.
“Dr. Bradke and her team have been an incredible support to our Community Care members since they started working with us in 2022,” said Director of Community Care, Susan Hackney. “We love having their presence at drop-ins on Mondays and they have built wonderful relationships with our members.
Hackney said that Bradke and another Rush nurse practitioner have become like members of the Community Care team.
Community Care Vice President Daniel Nelson said, “Dr. Bradke is a powerful advocate for health equity in our community.”
Bradke is a leader of the Heart Committee at Rush University Medical Center, which focuses on improving patient care by addressing race-based medicine and its negative effects.
She was also a contributing author and researcher with John Hopkins on a research publication about the accuracy of pulse oximetry (which measures your oxygen saturation) in individuals with darker skin tones. Pulse oximetry guides triage and therapy decisions for COVID-19.
Bradke’s heart is fully invested in making sure people can access healthcare and get proper treatment.
“My initial interest in medicine started with global health,” Bradke said. “[ I saw that] people weren’t receiving access to medicine that they deserved, and I wanted help fix health, equity, and social justice [in health care].”
Her passion for medicine and social justice has led her to be an advocate for health equity in places where people have limited access to healthcare.
This passion has taken her to some amazing places such as Haiti, Uganda, India, and a Native American Reservation in the Arizona and New Mexico area.
But working with residents on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona for a year was a truly unique and rewarding experience. At Tséhootsoí Medical Center in Fort Defiance, Bradke was responsible for providing care for several patients a day and making connections with them.
“When I got to work as a primary care physician, [there] it brought a lot of satisfaction because I got to know [my patients] and see the effects of the medication or treatment plan [they were on],” she said.
She also had opportunities to celebrate Halloween with the people on the reservation, which she said was a special experience.
“There [were] so many trick-or-treaters and all the kids were excited,” she said. “Everybody was dressed up. Even the adults trick-or-treated with their kids. It was a fun way to interact with the community.”
While working on the reservation, Bradke was inspired by the peace and unity the residents had for each other and their land.
“The community was very lovely and calming,” she said. “It was an excellent place to live.”
Medicine isn’t the only way Bradke gives back. This year, she and her sister Danielle will run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon as a Mercy Home Hero. Both love to run, and Danielle has been a huge influence on Bradke’s efforts by sharing her own passion for running. The two have run a half marathon in Morgantown, W. Va., together.
“[My sister] made me love running,” Bradke said.
Bradke is looking forward to her training program and achieving her running goals before marathon day.
“[Running] has allowed me to focus on structuring my time more as I start training more miles for the marathon,” she said. “The whole process of going through a training program, sticking to it, and focusing on your goals will be [a great experience].
We can’t wait to see them, and all our Heroes, cross the finish line in October.
