Dr. Bates currently serves as associate chief clinical officer of quality for C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital and has been deeply involved in many safety and quality initiatives throughout the Michigan Medicine system since joining the Congenital Heart Center in 2014. She graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School, also completing her pediatrics residency at U-M. She then completed her pediatric cardiology fellowship program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia followed by a fellowship at the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. During this fellowship, she earned a master's degree in health policy research and completed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's improvement advisor program.