Podcast Summary: Redefining Menopause Care with Dr. Allyson Brooks of Hoag Women’s Health Institute

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode Date: November 24, 2025
Guest: Dr. Allyson Brooks, Executive Medical Director and Endowed Chair in Women’s Health at Hoag
Host: Erica, Becker’s Healthcare

Overview

This episode focuses on the rapidly evolving landscape of menopause care. Dr. Allyson Brooks discusses shifts in societal and healthcare approaches to menopause, catalyzed by regulatory changes and increased patient advocacy. Dr. Brooks details her journey from private practice to executive leadership, the importance of multi-disciplinary care models, and actionable strategies for health systems to better serve women navigating menopause.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Brooks’ Background & Perspective

• Career Path: Nearly 25 years as an OB/GYN in private practice, later upskilled in health administration and continuous quality improvement.
• Current Role: Oversees all women's health programs at Hoag, with a focus on identifying and addressing care gaps, designing programs, and recruiting physicians.
• Personal Mission: “What women want, what they need, what they deserve, what they're not getting. And then I recruit physicians, design programs, and implement them.”
  (Dr. Brooks, 01:39)

2. The FDA’s Black Box Warning Removal & Its Impact

(02:10 – 06:10)

• Historical Context: Recalled the impact of the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative, which linked hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to increased risks and caused panic among patients and providers.
  • “The announcement that there was an increased risk of breast cancer and strokes and heart disease… I had women stop their hormones abruptly.” (Dr. Brooks, 03:21)
• Lingering Silence: For 20 years, misinformation and fear dominated, leading to a “desert of information and education about menopause.”
• Seismic Shifts: Dr. Brooks identifies two inflection points: the Women’s Health Initiative and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, both of which galvanized women to demand agency in healthcare.
  • “Women were suffering in silence, and it was a silent epidemic… That they would need to buckle up and live through.” (Dr. Brooks, 04:34)
• Significance of Recent Changes: The removal of the black box warning heralds “a brave new world”—increased demand, more education, more options.
  • “I think the overturn or the removal of the black box warning… is going to be liberating.” (Dr. Brooks, 05:59)

3. Evolution of Menopause Care at Hoag

(07:00 – 11:08)

• Philosophy Shift: Menopause is not just a prescription—it’s a partnership.
  • “We said menopause should not feel like a prescription. It's a partnership.” (Dr. Brooks, 07:24)
• Multidisciplinary Model: Monthly menopause meetings involve 15 specialties (cardiology, mental health, endocrinology, orthopedics, etc.), promoting shared learning and collaborative care.
  • “We come together once a month and we learn and we teach each other… and we try to come to agreement.” (Dr. Brooks, 08:30)
• Provider Engagement: This model energizes and supports clinicians who historically lacked training and community around midlife care.
• Community Education: Hoag runs summits, livestreams, and support groups to educate and empower women in all menopause stages.
  • “We do a whole variety of things where we try to bring in women that may be coming into perimenopause, in menopause, after menopause and trying to bring them the science and the data and the conversations as we learn.” (Dr. Brooks, 09:52)

4. The Menopause Society’s Role & Provider Training

(11:38 – 13:41)

• Broadening Specialty Involvement: The Menopause Society (formerly North American Menopause Society) shifted from an OB/GYN focus to multispecialty leadership.
  • “They reinvented themselves as a multi specialty group… They really are leading the way.” (Dr. Brooks, 11:50)
• Credentialing Surge: Number of certified menopause practitioners at Hoag jumped from 2 to 16 in two years, reflecting real investment and commitment.
  • “To have 14 busy experts… stop what they're doing, pay a not so nominal fee to get certified, really tells me they're making a commitment to women's care now and in the future.” (Dr. Brooks, 12:50)
• Empowering Providers: Certification and community have made providers excited about the future of menopause care.

5. Personalizing Menopause Care

(13:41 – 17:29)

• Dedicated Menopause Consults: Transitioned from squeezing menopause into annual exams to standalone, in-depth consults.
  • “By creating a menopause consult, what we've said is this is an important life transition and we want to make sure that you are armed with all the information that you need…” (Dr. Brooks, 14:15)
• Assessments & Ongoing Dialogue: Use tailored assessments to identify specific symptoms and personal priorities. The goal is a long-term relationship, not a transactional process.
  • “It's a relationship, it's not a transaction. And it grows with them.” (Dr. Brooks, 15:16)
• Access to Digital Resources: Social media and digital platforms now allow physicians to share credible, relatable content directly with women.
  • “We actually have physicians that are the influencers and they're all over Instagram and they're all over TikTok and Facebook and they're imparting their knowledge and their professional experience in a way that is very relevant and doesn't feel top down…” (Dr. Brooks, 16:38)

6. Advice for Other Organizations: Building Community

(18:26 – 21:01)

• The Power of Provider Community: Dr. Brooks emphasizes that clinicians felt isolated and unsupported before Hoag’s collaborative approach.
  • “These providers… felt very alone and like they were carrying the weight of this responsibility on their own shoulders without significant compensation.” (Dr. Brooks, 18:37)
• Shared Learning: Creating regular opportunities for learning and support reinvigorates providers and enhances care pathways.
  • “By bringing your teams and your disciplines together, they thrive.” (Dr. Brooks, 19:31)
• Women’s Community: Patient events (“Her Summit: Health Education and Resilience”) offer inclusive, empowering connections across the lifespan.
  • “In this six hour event, we would talk about everything related to women's health for the whole lifespan…” (Dr. Brooks, 20:10)
• Key Advice: Build community among providers and women; this “secret sauce” supports sustainable, quality care for midlife health.
  • “Community is, I think, the secret sauce for a menopause program and helping women in that midlife stage.” (Dr. Brooks, 20:49)

Notable Quotes

• “Women were suffering in silence, and it was a silent epidemic.”
  — Dr. Brooks (04:34)

• “Menopause should not feel like a prescription. It’s a partnership.”
  — Dr. Brooks (07:24)

• “There are 15 specialties that care for women in during midlife… And that community of providers has infused these physicians… with new energy.”
  — Dr. Brooks (08:10)

• “It's a relationship, it's not a transaction. And it grows with them.”
  — Dr. Brooks (15:16)

• “Community is… the secret sauce for a menopause program and helping women in that midlife stage.”
  — Dr. Brooks (20:49)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:55 – 02:10: Dr. Brooks’ background & vision
• 02:10 – 06:10: FDA black box removal & implications
• 07:00 – 11:08: Hoag's multidisciplinary menopause program
• 11:38 – 13:41: Impact of the Menopause Society and provider certification
• 14:06 – 17:29: Personalizing menopause care with consults and digital resources
• 18:26 – 21:01: Strategies for building community and institutional advice

Tone

The tone is passionate, empowering, and forward-looking, with Dr. Brooks emphasizing agency, partnership, and the importance of both patient and provider communities in transforming menopause care.