Allyson Brooks is continuing to address the gaps in women’s healthcare she witnessed as an obstetrician and gynecologist.
The executive director and chief quality officer at Hoag Women’s Health Institute—a unit of the Newport Beach hospital that’s one of the country’s higher-rated women’s health systems—recently oversaw the launch of Hoag’s Postpartum+ program, which allows new mothers and their newborns to receive care for six weeks at home.
“Home care for many people feels much better than having to pack up your baby and go into the hospital or into doctors’ offices,” Brooks told the Business Journal. “And they get extra support, reassurance, education and training, like with breastfeeding and baby care.”
The new program also includes access to a phone app Nona, which connects women who have questions or are seeking advice during postpartum with Hoag Care Team experts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Brooks served as a consultant for the app last year, months before she was honored at The Business Journal’s 28th annual Women in Business Awards.
Brooks will soon have another women’s hospital to oversee.
Hoag is spending $1 billion to expand and upgrade its Irvine campus, which will include specialty care centers for surgical innovation, cancer, digestive and women’s health.
The upcoming women’s hospital will be equipped to handle over 5,000 deliveries a year and house a neonatal intensive care unit, a breast care center, gynecologic care suites and physicians’ offices.
That will help Hoag keep up with its deliveries, which topped 7,000 in July, a record for the hospital system, Brooks said.
The facilities are expected to be complete by 2026.
Brooks’ latest effort to address gaps in women’s healthcare is aimed at women ages 45 to 55 undergoing menopause.
“What people are asking me the most for is midlife menopausal support,” Brooks said, since much of the focus on women’s healthcare is on babies and the geriatric population.
She and her team are currently developing programs and resources to help women in their midlife, menopausal transition. She expects the program to launch during Hoag’s fiscal 2023.
