3 of 10 Alabama Hospital Heroes from Flowers Hospital - Dr. Simon Roland Brooks
2/13/2013
Dr. Simon Roland Brooks
You rise early each day to make rounds and monitor and interpret cardiac tests before starting cases in the Cardiac Cath Lab. Between scheduled cases, you’re off to the E.R. to see a patient experiencing a heart attack who needs to be taken directly to the lab for intervention where you’re able to slip a wire across the lesion and balloon the blockage to restore blood flow and save heart muscle. Office visits in the afternoon finish another day in your life as an Interventional Cardiologist. But Dr. Roland Brooks isn’t done; he is on his way to the ball field to coach baseball.
Growing up in Crawford, Alabama, Dr. Brooks was already demonstrating his drive for excellence, becoming High School Valedictorian. Working his way through school as a diesel mechanic, Dr. Brooks completed his undergraduate work at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Auburn University graduating with honors. Next was the University of Alabama School of Medicine, completing his three year Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a three year fellowship in Clinical Cardiology. He has specialty training in angioplasty, nuclear cardiology and nuclear medicine physics from the UAB. During his career at Flowers Hospital, he has served as Chief of Medicine, Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff. He has served on the Board of Trustees since 2008 and has been the Medical Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute and Cardiac Rehab since 1996. He is an active member of the Physician Leadership Group and QI/Patient Safety Council.
Dr. Roland Brooks has a passion for excellence and exceptional patient care. His core belief is to do whatever is best for the patient. Dr. Brooks confesses that it is not always easy, “Sometimes you have to make the tough call, but you have to put the patient first.” This dedication to quality patient care has been the driving force behind Dr. Brooks’ medical career.
Quality patient care requires the commitment of the entire healthcare team. When Dr. Brooks was Chief of Staff in 2005, that fact was driven home. When Flowers Hospital presented him with the initial data regarding Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) quality core measures, Dr. Brooks felt he, and his peers, practiced better medicine than the data indicated. Dr. Brooks personally reviewed every chart with a deficiency and found that there were areas for improvement. He realized that he had to take ownership of those deficiencies. He took the information to his cardiology partners and laid out a plan to correct them. He then took the data to the medical staff and methodically explained everyone’s role. Finally, his greatest contribution for the staff was in the development of the AMI/CHF Progress note which ensured everyone was accurately documenting the care of the AMI/CHF patient. Within months scores soared well above the 90th percentile and in 2008, the commitment to quality reached 100%, making Flowers Hospital the # 1 hospital in the nation for quality care in the areas of AMI, CHF, Pneumonia and Surgical Care.
Dr. Brooks completed the last 18 months of his Cardiology Fellowship working one week a month at Flowers Hospital. Dr. Brooks knew nothing about Dothan on that first trip but soon found invaluable mentors in Drs. Harrell, Sawyer and Hood.
During his fellowship, Dr. Brooks wrote two retrospective papers, based on the work of his future partners, which were published in the JACC. He gave an oral presentation on Primary Angioplasty for Acute Myocardial Infarction: The Experience at a Regional Referral Hospital at the American College of Cardiology 40th Annual Scientific Session in 1991, a very rare honor for a fellow. At that time, thrombolytic therapy was considered the state-of-the-art treatment for AMI. Dr. Brooks’ findings showed that early balloon intervention was more effective and resulted in higher survival rates. That premise has now proven to be the standard of care.
From the beginning of his career, Dr. Brooks has felt that healthcare had to keep abreast of technology and innovation to prolong and improve the lives of patients. Dr. Brooks is often at the forefront of break-through advancements. Most notably he performed the:
First Directional Coronary Atherectomy in Dothan-1991
First Rotational Coronary Atherectomy in Dothan-1995
First Intravascular Ultrasound performed in Dothan-1995
First Mechanical Intracoronary Thrombolysis “Angiojet” in Dothan - 2000
First Intracoronary Brachytherapy procedure in the Region - 2001
First Percutaneous Left Ventricular Assist Device in Dothan – 2012
Dr. Roland Brooks brings the same commitment to excellence to everything he does. Married to his wife Kimberly for 30 years, they have four children, Seth, Andrew, Amy and Sarah Kate. He is very involved in the lives of his children and as a result he has donated his time and talents in their areas of interest. He has coached Dixie Youth baseball, Boy’s Club basketball, and city league soccer, taking the soccer team two years to the State Championships. He has served on the Board of Directors for Dixie Youth Recreation and the Boy’s Club.
Not wanting the boys to have all their dad’s time, the girls have enlisted his help in their passion which is dancing. Dr. Brooks has been instrumental in elevating dance in Dothan. His generous donations have allowed for guest artists and top producers to assist with annual productions like the Nutcracker. His wife Kim is on the Southeast Alabama Dance Company Board. Dr. Brooks volunteers his time to the company and has been the stage manager for them during many performances.
His family is active at Covenant United Methodist as well as First United Methodist.
“Dr. Brooks is one of the hardest working physicians I have had the pleasure of working with. The most impressive thing about Dr. Brooks is his ability to set priorities. He seems to be able to give his all in every setting, not only in his professional responsibilities but family and community as well”.
– Jon Joiner, RN Director of Heart and Vascular Institute
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