A. Brent Eastman, MD, who served as chief medical officer of San Diego-based Scripps Health for nearly two decades and as president of the American College of Surgeons, died June 24.
To those at Scripps, he is remembered as a leader, mentor, advocate and dear friend, President and CEO Chris Van Gorder wrote in a June 26 memo to staff that was shared with Becker’s.
“To the world he was a healthcare visionary, an educator, former president of the American College of Surgeons, and a principal pioneer of modern trauma systems in the United States and around the globe,” Mr. Van Gorder wrote.
Dr. Eastman joined Scripps as a trauma surgeon and later became its chief medical officer — a role he already held when Mr. Van Gorder became CEO in 2000. Mr. Van Gorder asked him to stay on to strengthen physician relationships and lead systemwide quality. Together they developed the Physician Leadership Cabinet, the systemwide Quality Summit and quality awards, and the Scripps Medical Response Team. The two traveled together on the team’s first mission after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and again to Haiti following that country’s earthquake in 2010.
Dr. Eastman also oversaw quality, patient safety, medical staff and physician engagement, graduate medical education, clinical standards and disaster preparedness. He held the N. Paul Whittier Endowed Chair of Trauma at Scripps.
Mr. Van Gorder remembered him as a deliberate, others-first leader. “As a Scripps leader, Dr. Eastman led by listening first,” he said. “He would sometimes sit through entire meetings without saying a word, hearing all that was said and offering his own perspective at the meeting’s end.”
Dr. Eastman was also the catalyst for opening every systemwide management meeting with a patient story — a reminder, Mr. Van Gorder said, “of our mission before business.”
He was elected as the 93rd president of the American College of Surgeons in 2012. His presidential address, “The Next Hundred Years,” emphasized professionalism, leadership, international collaboration and preparing the next generation of surgeons. He had been a fellow of the college since 1976 and joined its board of regents in 2001, according to an Oct. 31, 2011, news release from Scripps.
Dr. Eastman met his wife Sarita Eastman, MD — a pediatrician and author — at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. She wrote “A Trail of Light: The Very Full Life of Dr. Anita Figueredo” about her mother’s journey from Costa Rica to the U.S. where she became the first woman surgeon in San Diego.
Mr. Van Gorder said Dr. Eastman is remembered as a loving husband and father, avid outdoorsman, influential leader, innovator, mentor and friend.
“Above all, Brent had a passion for truly improving people’s lives, and it’s a legacy that will live on at Scripps and well beyond,” he said.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.