Brooke Graham

2025 Servant's Heart Award Winner

Brooke Graham serves as chief operating officer for Behavioral Health at Ballad Health. In her leadership role, she goes above and beyond to make sure patients, team members and the community are knowledgeable about behavioral health services and can access what they need.

Brooke’s leadership has helped grow outpatient access to mental health services by leaps and bounds. She has worked tirelessly to reduce stigma and has led many initiatives to expand resources and provide support to team members in crisis.

She was instrumental in restructuring and expanding Ballad Health’s Employee Assistance Program to meet the increased demand during the COVID pandemic, and then post-Hurricane Helene. She worked to provide her team with professional development and training, which has been highly valuable during times of crisis.

Brooke personally went to receive patients at the rescue site after the Unicoi County Hospital flooded. She worked tirelessly to support Ballad Health team members, the community and the schools post-Helene. When Helene devastated Temple Hill Elementary in Unicoi County, Brooke didn’t hesitate. She worked quickly to coordinate telehealth counseling services and a calming cart for students and staff, offering a tangible source of comfort in the wake of an overwhelming loss.

Brooke’s innovative work is transforming schools across the region in how they approach behavioral health. She launched the area’s first school-based behavioral health support program, bringing critical mental health resources directly to where children spend much of their time. She has helped place navigators in schools, led training for educators, and hosted countless tours for teachers, counselors and administrators at Woodridge Hospital and the new child and adolescent outpatient clinic.

Through partnerships with local education systems and East Tennessee State University, Brooke and her team introduced reset rooms – calming spaces within schools where students can take a moment to de-escalate, process emotions and regain focus with guidance from trained staff. Early results have been remarkable. In 98% of cases, students who used a reset room left in a calmer emotional state and were able to return to class ready to learn. One school even reported a 9% decrease in truancy, as students learned valuable coping skills that helped keep them engaged and present.

As a board member of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Brooke saw another opportunity to create change. She is developing a reset room in the Washington County Courthouse – a safe, quiet place for children involved in court proceedings to find comfort and calm during an often traumatic experience.

Brooke does all this with humility and grace, never seeking the spotlight. She cares deeply for the health of her team, her community and the future of the region.