CentraState Healthcare System has a new president and CEO – and he’s no stranger to the organization or the community. Tom Scott, FACHE, FABC, was recently appointed to this role after serving as CentraState’s chief operating officer for the past seven years. He’s been instrumental to CentraState’s growth during this time, and has fostered a culture of teamwork, innovation, accountability, and excellence. His deep experience in healthcare management includes a leadership role at Atlantic Health System, where he served as chief operating officer of Chilton Medical Center.

To get to know him better, here’s a Q&A with Tom Scott.

Why is CentraState special?

Beyond the quality of its care, I knew this organization was a gem during my first interview in 2015. It’s tremendously community-centered and family-oriented. Our team members, many of whom have been here for 20 years or more, respect one another, smile, lend a hand, and know what’s happening in each other’s lives. This culture of respect fosters teamwork and individual high performance, but more importantly it creates a healthy environment in which our patients feel cared for as individuals.

CentraState also has a fascinating history – the community saw a need for a hospital in western Monmouth County, and through door-to-door collections, coin tosses, and other grassroots efforts, they made it happen. Since then, CentraState has grown tremendously to become a regional healthcare organization offering a unique array of specialized programs and services, while never losing sight of its deep community roots.

What’s your vision as CEO?

As we embark on developing a three-year strategic plan focused on expanding access to care, I see three crucial goals:

Physician development. We’ll onboard primary care and specialist physicians throughout the service area, with each one representing a key access point to care.

Convenient centers of care. Adding more physical “outposts” – healthcare pavilions that offer physician care, physical therapy, and lab services – will enable more people to access care right where they live.

The basics. We’re committed to being indispensable for the basics in health care: superior quality outcomes, outstanding patient experience, and efficient, cost-effective care.

We want to deliver the highest quality care at the lowest cost in an easily accessible way.

We’re also adding more services that you may not find at other community hospitals – such as comprehensive cancer services and clinical trials – allowing our community to receive 95% of the care they need right here at home. For the other 5%, such as highly specialized cardiac surgery, we’ll connect our patients to expert providers that can best handle those cases, among them our trusted partners at Atlantic Health System.

What’s on your bucket list?

I’d like to see a live airing of Saturday Night Live! As far as travel, I hope to go back to Germany to experience the opening ceremonies for Oktoberfest. Fiji and New Zealand are also on my list.

What are you most proud of?

The fact that the CentraState Board of Trustees and medical staff leadership had the confidence in me to select me to be the next CEO – that says it all. I’ve had an amazing outpouring of support, and I’m proud to serve in this role.