Dr. Matthew Brown and TCMH- Now Together Officially

When news was released that Mercy Clinic in Houston would exit the community in November this year, Texas County Memorial Hospital quickly went to work to see what they could do to help. “We have always treated the Mercy physicians as if they were our own and when we heard the news, we immediately began making plans and having discussions to try and retain the doctors in our community,” Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer said.

On September 14, 2018, the second part of the hospital’s plan was completed when Matthew Brown, MD, and Murray signed a four-year contract of employment. Brown’s contract with TCMH has an effective date of November 15, 2018.

Brown has been employed with Mercy since completing his family medicine residency in 2011, but with the clinic in Houston closing, it made sense for Brown to sign with TCMH. He has worked closely with the hospital for several years and there has always been a great relationship between them.

Brown’s journey in healthcare started with a “design your own” bachelor’s degree at Baylor University in Waco, TX where his concentrations were in molecular biology and philosophy. However, Brown’s interest in healthcare began long before attending Baylor.

“My interest in the medical field has always been there,” Brown said. He further explained that he completed a research project on Marie Curie, a 19^th century Polish and French radiological researcher, when he was in kindergarten, and that is really what sparked his interest in the medical field.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, he attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX with a focus in international health/tropical medicine and traveler’s health.

In 2008, Brown moved to Conroe, TX to complete his family medicine residency at Conroe Regional Medical Center.

“I like the variety in family medicine,” Brown explained. “I had a hard time focusing on one specific area of medicine, so the variety of family medicine is really what attracted me to it in the first place, and it is what keeps me energized now.”

When Brown completed his residency, he moved to Houston, MO to begin employment with Mercy.

“My decision to initially move here, and now stay local, were easy ones. My dad was an aerospace physiologist in the Air Force and we moved around a lot. A piece of my heart will always be in Texas, and I claim San Antonio as my hometown, but I still always preferred smaller towns to bigger cities,” Brown said.

Brown visited Missouri for the first time when he attended a chief resident conference here and claimed he fell in love with the state.

“This is a beautiful area and the people are great. The practice has been both personally and professionally satisfying,” Brown said.

He explained that he enjoys working in medicine because of the ability to make a real difference in people’s lives and he enjoys the challenges that medicine brings.

“It’s never boring, and we do great things,” Brown said.  “We make advances every day. With today’s technology, it is not an exaggeration to say that we are keeping up with the specialty guidelines released in big academic centers. Oftentimes, we can even do procedures here locally, faster, safer, cheaper and better than in larger hospitals.”

While Brown is a family medicine doctor, he has experience in other areas of medicine as well, including obstetrics, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.

Brown mentioned how fortunate the community is to have such a good facility to receive medical care.

“I don’t think people realize how lucky we are in our community. I’ve always been struck by how unique our hospital is for a small town,” Brown said. He explained further, “We have great facilities here, and more importantly, we have a medical staff and an administrative team that is dedicated to making sure that cutting edge and quality care is available.”

Brown explained that he has high goals for the future of his practice at TCMH.

“I want to really expand services here and do so in a way that’s cost effective, so folks don’t have to travel so far,” Brown explained. “I want to bring the cutting edge care and treatments to patients, and work with them to both maintain their health, and alleviate their illnesses.”

“We are very fortunate and excited to be able to keep Dr. Brown here,” Murray said. “It’s a great situation for Dr. Brown’s current patients who get to continue receiving care from him, for the hospital and for Dr. Brown himself.”

Brown has three kids, two boys and one girl, ages four, six, and eight years old. His kids currently have a few farm animals and are hoping to gain some more. As a family, they enjoy spending time outdoors.

Brown explained that he is excited to continue his partnership with TCMH.

“The partnership we’ve had over the last 7 years has been outstanding, so this is a great way to strengthen that relationship. I’m looking forward to it,” Brown said.

Brown will be available at the Mercy Clinic in Houston at (417) 967-4445 through November 14. Beginning November 19, he will be available at the TCMH Medical Complex in Houston at (417) 967-5435.