Richard Lynn Scott
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- For other persons named Richard Scott, see Richard Scott (disambiguation).
Richard Lynn Scott (born 1952 in Illinois) is a billionaire entrepreneur. An attorney by trade, he founded Columbia Hospital Corporation in 1987, which merged with the Hospital Corporation of America in 1994 to become Columbia/HCA, the largest private operator of health care facilities in the world. Scott has a website, richardlscottinvestments.com.
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[edit] Biography
Richard Scott was born in Kansas City, Mo., where his father was a truck driver and his mother worked, among other jobs, as a clerk at J.C. Penny. His first job was selling TV Guides door to door at age eight. He is an Eagle Scout. After high school and one year of community college, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He served on the USS Glover as a radarman. While in college, he made his first foray into business buying and reviving two Kansas City doughnut shops. After graduating high school in 1970, then attending the University of Missouri, he earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
Scott went on to practice law in Dallas, TX, where he specialized in healthcare mergers and acquisitions. He was a partner at Johnson & Swanson, then the largest law firm in Dallas. He primarily represented companies in the healthcare, oil and gas and communication industries.
Scott was recognized by Time Magazine as one of America's 25 most influential people. In 1995, he was named CEO of the Year by Financial World magazine and also was cited as one of the Top 25 Performers of 1995 by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
[edit] Columbia Hospital Corporation
In October of 1987, Rick Scott put up $125,000 to start Columbia Hospital Corporation. He had never operated a hospital or other medical facility although he had represented hospitals and hospital chains as a lawyer. In 1988, Columbia bought two hospitals in El Paso for $60 million. In 1992, Columbia purchased Basic American Medical, which had eight hospitals primarily in Southwest Florida. In 1993, Columbia purchased Galen Healthcare, a spin-off of Humana. At the time, Galen had approximately 90 hospitals. In 1994, Columbia purchased HCA, Inc., which had approximately 100 hospitals. In 1995, Columbia purchased Healthtrust, which had approximately 80 hospitals, primarily in rural communities.
When he left Columbia in 1997 at the age of 44, Columbia had become the world's largest healthcare company with more than 340 hospitals, 130 surgery centers, and 550 home health locations in 38 states and two foreign countries. With annual revenues in excess of $23 billion, the company employed more than 285,000 individuals making it the 7th largest U.S. employer and the 12th largest employer worldwide. Based on market capitalization, Columbia ranked in the top 50 companies in America and top 100 worldwide.
In 1997, while Columbia owned less than seven percent of the nation's hospitals, 28 of the Mercer/HCIA Top 100 Hospitals in the United States were Columbia facilities. Today, no HCA are listed in the Top 100 Hospitals survey. Under Scott's leadership, 36% of Columbia hospitals attained "Accreditation with Commendation", in contrast to 8.5% of hospitals nationwide.View Study Highlights
In 1998, when Columbia purchased its first hospital in El Paso, healthcare inflation was over 18% per year. By 1997, healthcare inflation was almost zero. Scott was known for focusing on ways to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
In 1997, Columbia was recognized by Business Week as one of the 50 Best Performing Companies of the S&P 500.
In 1998, Columbia was investigated in an alleged scheme by low-ranking executives at HCA Hospitals to cheat Medicare: it was alleged that certain hospital executives would submit an inflated cost report, file a more conservative version, and pocket the difference in reimbursed income.
By October, 1998 the US government had officially joined the case as prosecutors. Four low-level employees were indicted on criminal fraud charges in January 1999 as a result of a Medicare filing for a hospital acquired by Columbia from Basic American Medical, and in July 1999 a judge handed down two convictions, one acquittal, and a mixed verdict. The two convictions were overturned on appeal.
Scott was never accused of any wrongdoing.
Scott's senior management team have stayed active in the hospital industry. David Vandewater, Columbia's COO, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ardent Healthcare, Nashville, Tennessee. David Colby, Columbia's CFO, is CFO of Anthem, Indianapolis. Denny Shelton, Columbia Group President, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Triad Hospitals, Dallas, Texas. David White, Columbia Group President, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Iasis Healthcare, Nashville, Tennessee. Ken Donahey, Columbia Controller, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lifepoint Healthcare, Nashville, Tennessee. Jamie Hopping, Columbia Group President, is COO of Ardent Healthcare. Dan Moen, Columbia Group President, is Senior Vice President of Triad.
[edit] Venture Capitalist
Scott quickly moved on, launching Richard L. Scott Investments the same month he left HCA. Richard L Scott Investments, based in Naples, Florida, has stakes in companies in manufacturing, healthcare and technology.
In late 1997, Scott purchased a controlling interest in America's Health Network for approximately $22 million. In June 1998, America's Health Network showed the first live birth on the internet. In 1999, America's Health Network entered into a joint venture with Fox Entertainment. The name of the channel was changed to The Health Network. The Health Network was eventually sold to Discovery Health for $275 million.
Between 1998 and 2001, Scott purchased 50% of CyberGuard Corporation for approximately $10 million. In 2006, CyberGuard was sold to Secure Computing for over $300 million.
In November 2003, Scott purchased a interest in Pharmaca Intergrative Pharmacies, based on Boulder, Colorado.
In February 2005, Scott purchased Continental Structural Plastics, Inc. in Detroit, Michigan. In July 2006, Continental Structural Plastics purchased Budd Plastics from ThysseenKrupp, making Continental Structural Plastics the worlds` largest industrial composites molder in North America.
In November 2005, Scott launced Alijor.com with his daughter, Allison Scott. Alijor.com connects patients and providers.
In March 2006, Scott purchased a significant interest in quepasa.com, the largest Latin networking website in the world.
In September 2006, Scott filed with the SEC to indicate a 6.7% ownership stake in Envoy Communications (Nasdaq:ECGI); an October 2006 filing then indicated he had increased his stake to 8.5% since his September filing.
[edit] Solantic
In 2001, Scott started Solantic, LLC, which operates urgent care centers in Florida. These centers provide (a) urgent care primarily for patients with no insurance, paitents who cannot get in to see their physician or patients who do not want to use an emergency room, (b) care for workers who have been injured, (c) physicals, immuninzations and flu shots. Solantic has expanded into Wal-Mart Super Centers in Florida.
[edit] Philanthropist
Scott has been involved in a variety of charitable activities. He was on the National Board of the United Way from 1997 to 2003. Scott worked with World Vision to create a primary health care system in a poor area of Kenya.
