This article appeared in the Zephyrhills (Florida) Sun in Jan. 2002.By MARY A. HARMAN, Staff Writer
ZEPHYRHILLS - Scott Pittman is the son of Danny and Joyce Pittman (deceased), of Beckley, W. Va. When he was a child, the family lived in Okiwana, where his dad, a military medic, was stationed at Kadena Army Base and where Scott started school in the first grade. In the mid 1960s the family returned to the states, for about a year, prior to going to Frankfurt, Germany, where Scott finished the third grade prior to returning to Fort Mead, where he finished elementary school.
When young Scott was 12 and in the seventh grade, his parents died, 10 months apart. He and his six siblings moved back to Beckley, W. Va., to live with their grandmother, Gertrude Pittman.
Scott says, "Our grandmother did a good job of raising us up." The Pittman children, reared by their grandmother, in addition to Scott, were Steve of Charleston, W. Va., Mark of Elkhart, Ind., Rohn of Rome, Ga., John of Oakland, Md. and Cindy Harvey and Chrystal both of West Virginia.
"One of my favorite quotes of my grandmother is, 'When you wish for something, wish in one hand and work in the other and see which one gets the job done.' That sort of governs my philosophy. On one hand I wish for something and I know it takes work to get it done, so I approach life with a balance of vision and hard work."
A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, Scott Pittman joined the U.S. Army, at 18, following in his dad's footsteps. He saw tours of duty in Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo; Ft. Hood, Texas and Ft. Eustis, Va. He also did a tour of duty in Fulda, Germany, during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, with the 11th Armored Calvary Arrangement on a mission patrol maintaining a attack ready fleet of 21 Cobra helicopters, as well as observation helicopters, where he received an Army commendation for that service.
Upon leaving the military, Scott Pittman returned to West Virginia and entered Bluefield State College, in Bluefield, W. Va., where he studied electrical engineering for a year.
While attending Bluefield State College Scott met Janet, the young lady who is now his wife, of Bluefield, W. Va.
About the same time Scott became a Christian and he also led Janet to the Lord. After their marriage on May 30, 1982, they both decided to go to school in a more humanitarian field of study and entered Southwestern Adventist College in Keene, Texas. At Southwestern Adventist, Janet earned her nursing degree and Scott studied for the pastoral ministry and business. While in school, Scott worked as a chaplain's assistant and as a nurse's aide in Huguley Memorial Hospital.
Realizing that health care was actually a place where both the ministry of business and the ministry of healing could be combined, he earned two degrees, a master's of art in theology with a minor in Biblical languages and also graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a minor in finance and accounting. The Pittmans took a pastoring job in Salisbury, Md., prior to entering the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrian Springs, Mich., for the master's of divinity. Still struggling with hospital administration, after two and one-half years, Scott partnered with a physician doing health education business and decided that health care was what he wanted to do.
The Pittmans then moved to Richmond, Va. where Scott began his studies to earn a master's in health administration at the Medical College of Virginia. Upon earning his master's Scott says, "After nine years of school I decided it was time to go to work." Of course he had worked full-time while going through school.
Being tired of moving, the Pittmans moved to Princeton, W. Va. in 1989. With the Princeton Community Hospital Administrator planning to retire, it made available a position that Scott could fill due to his education and previous experience. He had had three years as a nurseís aide, two years as partnership managing with a physicians business, two years as a cost accountant and one year as a consultant.
At Princeton Community Hospital he did a year residency and stayed on as assistant administrator. He then took over the chief operator position of the system in the mid 1990s. While in Princeton they did about a 100,000 square foot building program, increasing the hospital by 50 percent and purchased an 80-bed hospital in southern West Virginia, for the system.
They also managed about $46 million in bond financing, as well as doing about $25 million in construction during that period. Scott and Janet Pittman's decision to come to East Pasco Medical Center (EPMC) resulted from previous talks with the Adventist Health System which had not resulted in anything that appealed to President Pittman.
When ask to come to Zephyrhills he felt he had accomplished about as much as he was going to be able to do in Princeton. He says, "I like to be able to be involved in growth of a hospital and that is what attracted me to Zephyrhills."
He says, "We had to have hills, coming from West Virginia. I told Janet we have to have hills and we have got to have countryside, and we also have to have an opportunity to make a difference."
Pittman has also had experience in pioneering new technology, especially as it relates to information systems for the hospital and radiology. All this he feels gave him the opportunity to be involved in the birth of a hospital and this is their home for the next five to 10 years. He says, " I always plan my life in blocks of five years."
The Pittman children April, 15, is a 10th grader and Adam, 11, is a sixth grader at the East Pasco Adventist Educational Center. When relocating to the area the Pittmans had to find a home where they could have room for April's horse, Champ. Being a long term planner, President Pittman had to tell what he required of April when she asked for a horse.
He says, "I expect a lot of people and the people at EPMC, I know, are set to rise to that challenge. After taking riding lessons, at age 10, April wanted daddy to buy her a horse. Daddy doesn't buy things like that. He challenged her to save $500 and within three years she should have enough money to buy a horse, if the horse cost more then he would pay the difference. We are, strict in teaching the children the value of a dollar, each child has a budget to manage, beginning at age 7. April managed to save the $500 in two years. She went the extra mile to get the horse." By telling the story of his daughter and her budget he says, "I'm going somewhere with that story. At EPMC we have a vision for what it takes to build the health care delivery for this area for the next 10 years."