SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Gerald Healy, MD, FACS, was honored in a presentation here on Jan. 24 as the first winner of the Patrick E. Brookhouser Award for Excellence, named for the widely beloved Director of Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Neb.
Dr. Brookhouser, who passed away in 2011, was the founding director of Boys Town. He also served as director of the American Board of Otolaryngology and as executive secretary and president of the Triological Society. He was awarded the Triological Society Gold Medal in 2009. “He was gifted with a keen ability to bring a group to consensus in a genteel manner, and he had a great sense of humor, as we all know,” said TRIO President Jesus Medina, MD. “You could hardly ever get together with Pat without hearing some Irish joke.”
Dr. Healy, the Emeritus Gerald B. Healy Chair in Otolaryngology at Children’s Hospital in Boston and professor of otology and laryngology at Harvard Medical School, has served as director and executive vice president of the American Board of Otolaryngology, and as president of the Triological Society. He also served as president of the American College of Surgeons and is believed to be the only otolaryngologist to hold that title.
Dr. Medina called Dr. Healy “an outstanding doctor,” a “forward thinker” and a “prolific scholar,” renowned for his pioneering work with laser surgery in children.
“I am overwhelmed at this honor,” said Dr. Healy. “Patrick was my friend and mentor, my confidante. He had a unique character trait among all the other wonderful things that he was as a human being: He always celebrated other people’s success.” He was the first one to call Dr. Healy when he was named president of the American College of Surgeons. “He was more thrilled about that than I was, and I was pretty happy,” said Dr. Healy.
“I know he’s up there with hands on shoulders,” Dr. Healy said. “Take care, my friend.”
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