Patricia MC “Patty” Brown was ready to retire early almost five years ago, or at least that’s what she thought.
The lawyer, who specializes in health care regulation, ended his 30-year career at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2019 and agreed to become a part-time senior adviser to a Boston startup.
Months later, as the virus infected and quarantined millions of people, the company’s central premise took on unexpected importance: Medically Home was commercializing technology to hospitalize seriously ill patients in their own homes, following a model of care years developed at Hopkins.
“I was retired. I was planning on doing consulting, and then all of a sudden COVID hit,” Brown said. “Then COVID came up with the idea of admitting patients to their homes.”
Brown is a strong believer in the “hospital at home” model developed in Hopkins’ geriatrics department, where he served for more than a decade as senior vice president of managed care and population health, as well as president of the health division, Johns Hopkins Healthcare, and as a senior adviser to the Johns Hopkins Health System.
The “hospital at home” model works for “people” [who] “You don’t want to go to the hospital, you don’t need to go, you shouldn’t go. There’s a lot you can do at home,” Brown said. “This is a complete transformation of healthcare delivery from facility-based to home- and community-based.”
By the end of 2020, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will launch a national program to authorize hospitals to provide home care, and more than 350 facilities now offer or are considering offering the option. Brown believes that 30% to 40% of illnesses that result in hospitalization could be treated or monitored at home.
With a background in law, not medicine, Brown has long seen her mission as helping to improve patient and community care by shaping health care systems and policies, which was her goal at Hopkins and at Medically Home, where she currently serves as a senior advisor.
These days, the 64-year-old Severna Park resident finds a new calling, starting in January as vice president of payer strategy at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, a Hopkins-affiliated facility that specializes in treating children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida and other illnesses, injuries and disabilities.
She will be tasked with helping develop a research-backed, next-generation model of care for Kennedy Krieger, which will include working with insurance companies to put policies in place designed to cover the treatment and care patients need.
It’s no surprise to those who know Brown, or even to her, that she didn’t quietly retire.
“I always knew I was here to work, that’s what we were here for,” said Brown, who grew up in a Catholic family in Lutherville, graduated from Maryvale Preparatory School in 1978 and now serves as president of the school’s board of directors. Her upbringing and high school education were all about “serving others.”
For Brown, that meant being in her 30s and busy with a full-time job and raising two stepdaughters with her husband, all while building a parallel community service career.
Currently, she is a board member of the Center Club, a private business club located on the top floor of 100 Wright Street in downtown Baltimore, and she also serves as treasurer of Listening Hearts Ministries, a group started by her husband, Joseph Gill, that teaches the practice of spiritual discernment.
One of her first roles began more than 20 years ago when she helped develop United Way’s Women’s Business Leaders Initiative.
“Many of us [a] “That shared passion to help each other and give back,” says PJ Mitchell, a former IBM vice president of global sales operations who also worked with United Way. “And we’ve worked together ever since on whatever we’re working on at the time.”
Mitchell, a past president and current board member of the Centre Club, described Brown’s leadership style as “supportive and caring.”
“People are naturally drawn to her as a leader, whether it’s achieving business goals or supporting civic and volunteer causes,” Mitchell said. “She’s really good at harnessing the power of her team.”
Since retiring from Hopkins in 2019, Brown has also served as chair of Maryvale’s board of trustees and recently led the search for a new president, which led to the hiring of Marika Delancey, the first person of color to lead the school. Brown’s goal is to ensure the school continues to provide “a loving environment focused on teaching young girls to be leaders.”
Brown’s family also owns an apartment in Federal Hill, and he became involved with the Center Club because he recognized the importance of having a city gathering place where business leaders could work together.
“When you walk into the Center Club, you see the best of modern Baltimore,” Brown said. “You’ve got young people, you’ve got old people. … You walk in and you see diversity everywhere. That’s our city of the future. It has to be a complete sense of community.”
Patricia MC “Patty” Brown
Year: 64
home townLutherville, Bronx, New York, age 6
Current Residence: Severna Park, Federal Hill
educationMaryvale Preparatory School, University of Richmond, BA in Political Science and Sociology, University of Baltimore, JD
Career highlights: Vice President, Payer Strategy, Kennedy Krieger Institute; Senior Advisor, Medically Home; Senior Vice President, Managed Care and Population Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine; President, Johns Hopkins Healthcare; Senior Advisor, Johns Hopkins Health System; Deputy Secretary, Health and Mental Hygiene, Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Civic and Philanthropic Activities: He is president of Maryvale Preparatory School, a director of the Center Club, treasurer/director of Listening Hearts Ministries, a member of the board of directors of Special Needs Children’s Health Services, a managed care plan owned by Children’s National Hospital in Washington, and past president of the United Way of Central Maryland.
family: Married to Joseph Gill, two stepdaughters, one grandson
