Hospital CEO Takes Part in ‘Suits in Scrubs’ Before Retirement

Dec. 12, 2023 - Scotland Health charge nurse Misty Freeman recently challenged the hospital CEO to take part in a “Suits in Scrubs” day, which would entail shadowing her for an 8-hour shift to see first-hand what nurses do. Long-time CEO Greg Wood, who is well known for making routine rounds with the front-line hospital staff, was eager to take Freeman up on her challenge.

“I came away very impressed. Nurses do hard work all day long, and being a charge nurse, Misty has to juggle a lot of difficult decisions that come up in the spur of the moment,” Wood said. “To be a good charge nurse you have to be a good decision maker, and Misty is just that.”

Misty is a graduate of Richmond Community College's Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program. She has worked a total of 17 years for Scotland Health, starting as a volunteer at the hospital when she was just in high school.

“I read an article about Suits in Scrubs Day, where hospital administration staff scrub up and spend time with the front-line staff,” Freeman said. “So I presented the challenge to our CEO and he quickly agreed.”

Wood was ready to go when Freeman showed up for her 6 a.m. shift start, and he spent the day following her around in the intensive care unit and the progressive care unit. He also got to interact with RichmondCC nursing students, who were also shadowing Scotland Health nurses as part of the clinical element of the Associate Degree Nursing program.

“They got to watch Misty do an ultrasound guided line insertion, and the patient was quite scared. She asked one of the RichmondCC nursing students, ‘Will you hold my hand?” So one of the three nursing students held her hand and comforted her through the whole procedure,” Wood said.

Wood noted the value that the nursing students were receiving by shadowing nurses in the hospital setting with real patients as well as seeing the use of new technology. 

“That was our second day going live with IV pumps getting automatically integrated into our epic record system, so they got to watch the process of how the nurses were learning to do that in real time,” Wood said.

Wood, who retired from Scotland Health on Dec. 1, served as CEO of the hospital system for 33 years.

“I was one of the youngest CEOs when I started, and now I’m one of the longest serving hospital CEOs,” he said.

Wood came away from his Suits in Scrubs Day shadowing Freeman with an even greater respect for nurses.

“What I quite often say to new nursing students is thank you for choosing a career that you know you are making a difference. To use the military slogan, it might be the hardest job you will ever love. You are going to work hard each and every day, but one patient at a time, you are going to make someone’s life better,” Wood said.

Filling Wood’s position is new CEO David Pope.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Scotland Health under Mr. Pope’s leadership,” said Dr. Qunna Morrow, Dean of Allied Health & Human Services at RichmondCC. “Our nursing students gain valuable knowledge during their clinical rounds with the staff at Scotland Health.”

RichmondCC is now accepting applications for the Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing programs for the 2024 Fall Semester. The College is also accepting students into the pre-nursing and Nursing Assistant programs for the 2024 Spring Semester. Call (910) 410-1700 or visit the Hamlet or Scotland County Campus to learn more about RichmondCC’s healthcare programs.