OFF THE CLOCK
ROLLING TOWARD
how to get results by holding people accountable.” He’s had experience as an advocate, if not as a candidate. A year ago he founded Conservatives for Patients’ Rights (CPR), which campaigns at www.cprights.org for a free market in health care. Four “pillars” support the campaign: patient choice in doctor and insurance plan; public pricing, inter-state carrier competition; equal tax breaks for employees and employers; personal responsibility. “If you look at the polls,” says Scott, “that’s exactly what the American public wants, and I think that will happen over time.” If health care remains a live issue as his campaign moves forward – and at press time, challenges from the states showed the issue is still with us – Scott’s record in health care will stay relevant and may boost one of bowling’s extended “family” a significant way toward a governor’s mansion. ❖
TALLAHASSEE
Will Floridians vote for this man?
R
ick Scott is bowling folk once-removed. He partners with Larry Schmittou in S&S Family Entertainment, LLC, dba Strike & Spare Fun Centers, which has 15 bowls in four states. Scott knew of Schmittou when both were involved with the Texas Rangers baseball club, Scott as part-owner and Schmittou as vice president of marketing. When Schmittou decided to leave his 30-year career in baseball as coach, scout and minor league team owner, he approached Scott about getting together in a bowling venture. “It’s hard to say no to him,” says Scott, “he’s such a great guy.” That’s what Scott wants Floridians to think come November. That, and his being the man with the ideas to straighten out what he believes Florida citizens are most agitated about. In order: unemployment is 12%, 40% of homeowners are “underwater” with their mortgages, and the state is $3 billion in the red, a figure he estimates will top $5 billion next year. Scott, who also heads Richard L. Scott Investments of Naples, FL, has put his business interests aside to run for governor. When we sat down with him six days after he announced his candidacy, he introduced himself as a man who has lived the American dream. “My father was a truck driver and my mom did odd jobs—took in ironing, worked at Penney’s, cleaned telephone booths, all sorts of things to make a living.” He served in the Navy, married at 19, and bought his first business, a doughnut shop, at age 21. But if Scott is judging the mood of Floridians correctly, his career in health care will weigh much more heavily with voters. In 1987, he started Columbia Hospital Corp. with his life savings of $125,000 and proceeded to buy hospitals around the country. Ten years later, the company (as Columbia/HCA after acquiring HCA, Inc., owner of 100 hospitals) owned more than 340 hospitals, 135 surgery centers, and 550 home health locations in 37 states and two foreign countries, according to Scott’s website www.rickscottforflorida.com. In 2001, he established Solantic, a chain of venues he calls “walk-in doctor’s offices, basically.” He says Solantic’s charges, which are posted on a menu board in the reception area, are a sixth of ER cost if the patient has insurance and less than a tenth if he doesn’t. “I’ve been successful in business,” he says, summing up his bona fides. “I’ve started companies from scratch. I’ve built large companies. I’ve run large companies. I know how to create jobs, how to balance budgets,
Rick and Ann Scott
Would a bowling proprietor make an especially good politician? Sound off at www.BowlingIndustry.com. IBI
July 2010
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