“Progress is the activity of today and the assurance of tomorrow.” Those words from 19th-century writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson exemplify the work of Dr. Robert Brigham, chief of surgery for the Reading Health System. The Michigan native graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and served a full career in the Army as a soldier during the Vietnam War and as a physician with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Wyomissing in 1989 to practice as a vascular surgeon. He has been instrumental in the hospital’s Seventh Avenue expansion project, which will offer state-of-the-art technology and patient care — typically found in major metropolitan healthcare facilities — right here in Berks.
Q: What led you to Berks County?
When I retired from the military after 20 years, I looked all over the country for a place where I could practice in just one hospital, rather than a network. I was still in touch with many other doctors from Walter Reed and knew Bob Muir from my time there. He was my predecessor as chief of surgery here. I came to see the hospital, and it – and the wonderful people and community — just fit the bill.
Q: And the hospital has grown so much since then. I hear the latest project even includes a “green” roof. What is its purpose?
Much like the healing garden we installed in the last project, the roof is an open-air green space on top of the building. It will be a peaceful, easily accessible waiting area for visitors and in-patients who want to go outside. The building will also feature between 24 and 28 new operating rooms that will have the latest 21st century technology. This $345 million construction project was necessary because the old ORs were too small to house all the scopes, HD screens, lasers and other tools that modern medicine requires.
Q: So there will be no need to go to a big city hospital for specialized procedures?
Yes. Care has indeed become very specialized, and in this new facility we’ll be better able to meet those needs and to meld medicine and surgery for better, safer, coordinated care of the utmost quality. It will also attract top quality healthcare providers, who will want to work there, which also enhances the overall health of the community. The hospital’s directors have made a commitment to creating a tremendous asset for Berks County. It’s been an exciting project for me.
Q: I’m mostly joking when I ask this, but will the project make getting around the hospital easier?
I know, and you’re right — there was a time when you could get lost without changing floors! Yes, this will help people to negotiate their way around campus in a much better, easier fashion.
Q: Aside from work, what makes you happy?
Time with my wife Paula and our family – my sons Rob and Adam, our daughter Kristina, and our eight grandchildren. I also enjoy golf with friends. My son Adam is head pro at a course in Wayne; I joke that that balances the cost of his education.
Q: What’s an ideal day off for you?
I recently went, for the first time, to Roadside America and had a wonderful time. I was impressed. I never knew it was so close by. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I must say it is a highly advised trip to take with kids, particularly with grandsons; the boys just loved it.
