Obituaries

David Emerson BrownHospital Executive

David Emerson Brown, 55, a health-care executive who was president of Greater Southeast Community Hospital for four years until 1996, died March 19 at Johns Hopkins University Hospital of severe internal hemorrhage resulting from a fall.

Mr. Brown became seriously ill in February and was admitted to the intensive care unit at Beaufort Memorial Hospital in South Carolina, where for the past 11 years he had been president and chief executive.

On Feb. 11, he was flown to Johns Hopkins University Hospital, his sister, Catherine W. Brown of Washington, said.

At Greater Southeast, Mr. Brown helped the urban institution navigate through tough economic times with a business model that focused on treating patients in its neighborhood.

"The hardest thing has been balancing our expenses with what has been shrinking revenues from all payers," Mr. Brown told The Washington Post in 1994. "We're constantly looking for ways to care for patients in a less expensive way."

Mr. Brown, who possessed a mild-mannered, low-key demeanor, began his career in 1976 when he became executive assistant director of the Prince George's County Federation for Medical Care, a professional standards review organization. There, he began to hone a professional relationship with doctors.

In 1982, he joined the Greater Southeast Community Hospital Foundation. He held various senior-level management positions with its subsidiaries and affiliates.

A son of a Foreign Service officer, Mr. Brown was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and at times lived in India, the Netherlands and Canada.

He graduated from Boston University, where he also received a master's degree in business administration/health-care management in 1976.

Besides the Boston Red Sox, he loved to be on the water sailing. During his years in the Washington area, he lived in Annapolis, where he kept his sailboat Moonshadow.

In recent years, he had waterfront homes in Beaufort and Harbor Island, S.C., where he carved duck decoys and collected model sailboats and artwork related to the sea and sailing.

His marriages to Terry Taylor and Rita R. Brown ended in divorce.