Longtime Sutter Health Leader Martin Brotman, M.D. Honored for Lifetime Achievements in Health Care

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Martin Brotman, M.D., senior vice president of education, research and philanthropy for Sutter Health, this week received a lifetime achievement award for his 40-plus years of caring for patients in the San Francisco area. Honored by the San Francisco Business Times, Dr. Brotman received a standing ovation from hundreds of physicians, business and community leaders and health care advocates at the publication's 2012 Health Care Heroes Awards event.

"Dr. Brotman's dedication to serving patients is unparalleled—he's a caregiver at his core," said Sutter Health president and CEO Pat Fry. "For decades, his thoughtful approach to patient-centered care served as a model for many emerging physicians and health care leaders. His leadership and vision continue to play a vital role in Sutter Health's efforts to advance high-quality, affordable health care."

Compassionate Physician and Transformative Leader
Dr. Brotman opened his practice in the 1960s, focusing on internal medicine, gastroenterology, and inflammatory bowel disease. Beloved by his patients and peers, Dr. Brotman leads by example through compassionate, personalized health care—on some occasions, even travelling hundreds of miles to care for patients outside of the Bay Area so they wouldn't incur extensive travel costs. During such travel, he also made time to mentor younger GI specialists through lectures, training programs and more. Notwithstanding his transition from a full-time medical practice into hospital administration, Dr. Brotman continued to care for patients every week.

While President and CEO of Sutter Health-affiliated California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in the 1990s, Dr. Brotman helped guide the transformation of CPMC into what has become one of the most respected specialty care hospitals on the West Coast.

Following his leadership role at CPMC, Dr. Brotman led Sutter Health's West Bay Region, which includes four hospitals and a physician organization. The region cares for more than a half-million patients each year across the greater San Francisco Bay Area.  

Continuing his lifelong interest in education and research, Dr. Brotman recently assumed responsibility for Sutter Health's expanded Research, Development and Dissemination (RD&D) function. Sutter Health plans to invest $20 million over the next three years to fund the RD&D program. Research will focus on rapid cycle, value-added enhancements in health care such as inventing and launching new products and developing and testing transformative care solutions for high-quality, patient-centric care. The program is will translate knowledge into proven solutions and seeks to adopt improvements as rapidly as possible in real practice and community settings.

National Name in Gastroenterology
Throughout his career and many leadership roles in the Sutter Health network, Dr. Brotman maintained his dedication to internal medicine and his lifelong interest in inflammatory bowel disease. At CPMC, he created a GI Fellowship, a gastroenterology laboratory, and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. 

Dr. Brotman also provided his expertise in the field to several medical organizations, including his service as President of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), which recognized him with the prestigious Julius Friedenwald Medal, the organization's highest honor. Playing an instrumental role on the AGA's Task Force on Quality in Practice, Dr. Brotman helped shape national guidelines and recommendations in the field. His professional advisory and leadership roles extend to service as the Chairman of the Subspecialty Board on Gastroenterology of The American Board of Internal Medicine, Chairman of the Board of the California Transplant Donor Network, and co-chair of the Hospital Council of San Francisco

For 40 years Dr. Brotman also shared his passion for medicine by teaching at the University of California, San Francisco where he currently serves as a clinical professor of medicine.

Dr. Brotman is one of eleven individuals connected to the Sutter Health network honored by regional business journals this year for outstanding contributions in health care.

About Sutter Health
Serving patients and their families in more than 100 Northern California cities and towns, Sutter Health doctors, not-for-profit hospitals and other health care service providers share resources and expertise to advance health care quality and access. The Sutter Medical Network includes many of California's top-performing, highest quality physician organizations as measured annually by the Integrated Healthcare Association. Sutter-affiliated hospitals are regional leaders in cardiac care, women's and children's services, cancer care, orthopedics and advanced patient safety technology.

For more information about the not-for-profit Sutter Health network, please visit:
www.SutterHealth.org | www.Facebook.com/SutterHealth | www.YouTube.com/SutterHealth | www.Twitter.com/SutterHealth |

SOURCE Sutter Health