Early Beginnings, Enduring Impact

At 13, Andre Beach Started in Healthcare and Never Looked Back

Andre Beach didn’t plan a career in healthcare. He grew into it.

At 13 years old, he was working after school in the medical records department of an OB-GYN practice in Colorado Springs. His mom was the clinic manager, and the department needed help.

“She put me in there,” Beach said. “And that’s where everything began for me. I never looked back.”

His early responsibilities were simple. If something was missing, he found it. He assembled charts, tracked down notes, and ran errands wherever help was needed. At the time, he didn’t fully grasp the impact of the work.

“A lot of times it was just like putting a puzzle together for me,” he said. “I liked running around. I liked making things whole.”

What he was absorbing, even then, was how a practice actually functions. More importantly, he was watching leadership up close.

Learning Accountability Early

Beach’s mother was a respected leader in the clinic, someone who knew every corner of the operation.

“She was a jack of all trades,” he said. “Accountability was a big part of it.”

There was also a personal layer to the experience. “There was always this underlying, ‘Don’t embarrass me,’” he said with a laugh.

That expectation stuck with him. Accountability, he said, became a throughline in his career —  but so did relationship-building. Working alongside his mom helped shape how he shows up as a leader today.

“It was great to get to spend that time with her,” he said. “It helped shape how I am as a leader.”

From Task-Focused to People-Focused

After college, Beach returned to the same clinic, initially as a temporary employee. Within a month, he was given an unexpected test.

“There was an audit coming,” he recalled. “They told me if I could prepare for it in 30 minutes, they’d make me the lead of the department.” He did, and they did.

Over the next decade, Beach moved through nearly every department in the practice, eventually leaving as director of operations. The experience gave him something many leaders lack: deep, hands-on understanding of how each function works and what it feels like to do the work.

That background shaped how he views leadership.

“Beforehand, it was focusing on the task,” Beach said. “And then in leadership, it becomes focusing on the people.”

He describes himself as a relational leader, someone who values influence over authority.

“I think leadership is a little bit less about control than I thought early on,” he said. “It’s more about influence and motivating others.”

Working his way up also taught him humility. “I think that’s what made me most effective,” he said. “I worked my way up through every level.”

From filing medical records at age 13 to leading a specialty practice as COO, Andre Beach’s career shows how influence, curiosity, and community shape effective practice leadership over time.

Creating Clarity Amid Chaos

Today, Beach is COO of the Denver Arthritis Clinic, leading a rheumatology practice where patient relationships often span years.

“There’s a significant relational aspect,” he said. “There’s a lot of trust that goes into that.”

Patients are not just managing appointments or treatments. Many are navigating life-changing diagnoses. “When patients get a diagnosis, they’re becoming part of a larger community,” Beach said. “Their experience is more than the 30 minutes they’re with the provider. It impacts their families and their friends.”

For Beach, leadership in healthcare is about creating clarity in an industry that rarely stands still. “My job is to create clarity amongst chaos,” he said.

That mindset has guided his approach as he moved into mid-career leadership. Early on, he saw leadership as being the expert. Now, he sees his role differently. “In leadership, there’s a series of people who are the experts,” he said. “My job is to support them, keep them engaged, and not disenfranchise them.”

He describes his approach as servant leadership, rooted in sincerity and responsibility to staff, patients, and himself.

Building Confidence Through Knowledge and Community

Beach’s path into healthcare leadership wasn’t linear. His bachelor’s degree is in anthropology, and he once imagined a future far removed from clinics and operations. When he realized healthcare would be his long-term career, he knew he needed formal training.

“I felt like I needed to make an intentional pivot,” he said.

That led him to pursue certification through MGMA and earn his CMPE. He has held the credential for more than a decade.

“MGMA offers a really robust body of knowledge,” Beach said. “There’s so many different aspects to healthcare leadership.”

For him, the value was practical. “The worst thing that could happen to me as a leader is when someone comes to me and they’re speaking over my head,” he said. “I don’t feel like I can support people if I can’t at least articulate what’s going on and help troubleshoot.”

Beyond education, MGMA became a place for connection. Beach has been a member for about 15 years and recently completed a term as president of the Colorado MGMA chapter.

“It’s been an honor to really get involved and help other managers and leaders grow,” he said.

Making Time to Step Back

Like many practice leaders, Beach knows how easy it is to feel overwhelmed. “The problems are going to be there,” he said. “The challenges are always going to be there.”

His advice to peers is simple but hard to follow: make the time to step away. “Sometimes it’s really important to get your head above water and say, ‘Let me survey the landscape and see what’s out there,’” he said.

That includes learning from others facing similar challenges.

“Knowing there’s a community around you makes a huge difference,” Beach said. “Leadership can feel isolating.”

When chaos hits closer to home, he relies on perspective. “A problem at work is a challenge,” he said. “A problem at home is a problem.”

He also knows that people watch how leaders react. “I use the duck metaphor,” he said. “Under the water, the feet are going crazy. On top, you’re calm.”

Staying steady, he said, helps prevent stress from spreading to the team.

Advice for Early-Career Leaders

When asked what he would tell early-career practice leaders, Beach didn’t hesitate.

“Work on managing your imposter syndrome,” he said. “It’s real. To this day, I have it.”

He sees many leaders promoted out of necessity rather than preparation, what he calls “chaos promotions.” His advice is to back opportunity with skill-building.

“Use your resources,” he said. “So you have the skills to back it up.”

He also encourages saying yes. “I never felt like I had the entitlement to turn something away,” Beach said. “If an opportunity came my way, I did it. That’s what made the next opportunity inevitable.”

A Timely Moment to Invest in What Helps You Grow

National Medical Group Practice Week shines a light on leaders who often work behind the scenes, navigating complexity while supporting patients, clinicians, and teams.

For Beach, the week matters because it reminds leaders they are not alone.

“Leadership can be lonely,” he said. “Visibility is really important.”

Outside of work, Beach is clear about his priorities. He and his wife, who also works in healthcare, are raising two young daughters.

“If you give all of yourself to work and leave nothing in the tank,” he said, “you’re not bringing the best version of yourself to work.”

Protecting time at home, he said, allows him to show up fully at work.

“When I bring the best version of myself,” Beach said, “the patients benefit, the staff benefit —  everyone does.”

Want to build a career with the same mid-career mindset Andre describes, focusing on influence, confidence, and continuous growth? During National Medical Group Practice Week, MGMA is offering limited-time savings on ACMPE certification and professional resources.