Robert Brooks, Chief Operating Officer for Erlanger Health System, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as a leader of tomorrow in its annual “Up and Comers Award” for 2015. Modern Healthcare is a national publication focused on healthcare business news, research, technology and data.
The 40-year old executive was recruited to Erlanger two years ago by CEO Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE. In an interview with Modern Healthcare editors, Mr. Spiegel told editors, “Rob interacts well with doctors.
He understands what makes their lives easier, what makes their lives more difficult.”
In the article, Mr. Brooks said his leadership philosophy has always been, “Do what’s right for the patient and it will all work out.” Modern Healthcare reported that Erlanger’s COO began his career in healthcare after witnessing a car accident when he was a cadet firefighter. “The experience was formative; he went on to become an emergency medicine tech, a critical care nurse, then a flight nurse. Intrigued by the challenges and opportunities to improve operations, he veered into management. This brought with him an ability to work closely with doctors and nurses, a valuable skill that has improved ambulatory and hospital operations for his employers, including Erlanger.”
Mr. Brooks acknowledged that he missed working in clinical care and in the community saving lives, but says his work, “now supports doctors and nurses who do the life-saving work.”
The national healthcare publication cited the development of the Erlanger Regional Operations Center, as one of Mr. Brooks’ leading initiatives during his tenure at Erlanger. An all-purpose command center, EROC coordinates ambulance and emergency air traffic across 11 Tennessee counties and three Georgia counties, and has been instrumental in Erlanger’s continued growth in patient volume and improved outcomes.
In announcing this year’s winners, Modern Healthcare editors noted that, ”This year’s “Up and Comers” stand out for how they work with others. Executives today must lead with less formality, and more nuance, artfulness and collaboration than in the past.” In choosing the winners, out of 150 nominations, editors said “we looked for something more than the exemplary leadership skills that are required to reach the top rungs of any field.”
Modern Healthcare also ranked the Erlanger Health System as 118th in the nation among all U.S. healthcare systems in terms of net patient revenue for 2014.