Every day at Gibson Area Hospital’s Baby Central is a special one for new parents. On the morning of Friday, May 26th, it was also a day of celebration for Benjamin Brewer, MD. The birth of baby Rosalin, the second child he has delivered for parents Catie Armstrong and Aaron Blair, marks the family practice physician’s 1000th delivery at Gibson Area Hospital.
Dr. Brewer graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 1994, and completed his residency at Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana. He arrived on the Gibson Area Hospital campus in 1998 and quickly expanded his care to Forrest, Illinois, with the opening of Prairie Family Medicine & Obstetrics. Eventually, his family practice and maternity care was extended to patients at the Onarga Clinic as well.
Dawn Kestner, office manager of Prairie Family Medicine & Obstetrics, has been working with Dr. Brewer since he began practicing medicine locally. Asked why Dr. Brewer takes on the maternity care work, she responded without hesitation, “His (Dr. Brewer’s) mom said he always wanted to be a doctor. He just loves taking care of people.”
Staff members from Prairie Family Medicine & Obstetrics joined the Gibson Area Hospital Administration and Baby Central team on Friday morning to congratulate Dr. Brewer for his milestone achievement caring for one thousand moms and delivering one thousand babies in his 19 years of practicing maternity care. For Dr. Brewer, delivering babies is about more than numbers. “It is a source of joy and I was happy to be part of that joy.”
