CEO Scot Davis is all heart when it comes to the Walk

Scot Davis, CEO of Arkansas Urology, is the chairman of this year’s Heart Walk.
Scot Davis, CEO of Arkansas Urology, is the chairman of this year’s Heart Walk.

Scot Davis is the chief executive officer of Arkansas Urology, a huge practice with nine locations, 26 providers -- 18 doctors, nine nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, treating 70,000 patients a year.

And Davis is the chairman of the 2018 Southwest Affiliate, American Heart Association's Heart Walk, April 28 along the North Shore Riverwalk in North Little Rock's Riverfront Park.

Check-in starts 8:30 a.m. Walks of one, two or four miles start at 9:30 a.m. There's no entry fee -- "All you have to do is show up," Davis says. He's expecting about 60 teams to participate. Walkers who raise at least $100 get a Heart Walk T-shirt.

The Heart Walk has a tagline of "Healthy for Good," focusing on the idea that making small changes today cuts the future risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, the nation's No. 1 and No. 5 killers.

When the Heart Association's executive leadership team was seeking a chairman for this year's walk, Davis was a particularly good fit -- he had chaired a Heart Walk in Jonesboro a dozen years ago while he was the chief financial officer at Northeast Arkansas Clinic, a job he held from 1999 to 2013.

For Davis, volunteering for the Heart Association is particularly personal. He has a family history of cardiac disease.

"I was looking for a way to get involved here," he explains. "God's timing is perfect -- He puts people in your path for a reason."

Davis recalls he was on a spring break trip to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., with his wife, Amy, and children -- twins Jackson and Isabella (now 16) and daughter Sofia (now 11) -- and got a 3 a.m. phone call telling him his mother had had an aneurysm that ruptured her aorta and had died in the emergency room. And in just the past five years, massive heart attacks claimed the lives of his brother and his father.

It inspired Davis, who turns 55 this year, to take better care of himself.

"I had a good cardiologist in Jonesboro," he says. "I started going down pathways to be healthy. We all eat too much brown food and don't get enough exercise."

He took to heart, you might say, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association's "Check. Change. Control" program, which helps people do what they need to control their high blood pressure -- diet, exercise, visiting their doctor and taking their medication. It sets specific targets for weight reduction; specifies a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy; and recommends restricting sodium intake, moderation of alcohol consumption and a target of at least 90 to 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week.

That comes to just about 20 minutes a day, Davis says, and it could mean "getting out and walking. It doesn't have to involve joining a gym or getting a personal trainer. It's the mental aspect: focusing on taking care of yourself."

Davis isn't a doctor, but he has more than 20 years in managing physician practices, with, according to his Arkansas Urology official biography, "expertise in physician recruitment, joint-venture arrangements, compensation modeling and operational efficiency."

"I take care of the people who take care of the people," he explains.

He's a Memphis native who, prior to his stint in Jonesboro, was CFO at Memphis' Baptist Medical Group. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration from Memphis State University and a master's degree in business administration from Christian Brothers University in Memphis. He joined Arkansas Urology as CEO in May 2013.

Davis says Arkansas Urology's doctors and staff members have been enormously supportive of the Heart Walk and many will participate: "A number of our employees have jumped on board; some of them are very active. It's very inspirational."

He says the walk has two main goals -- fundraising (he's looking to pull in about $342,000, $142,000 from walk teams and $200,000 from sponsors, which include CHI St. Vincent, the presenting sponsor, and Arkansas Urology) and raising awareness. But also, he says, "I hope people use this as an impetus" toward changing their lifestyle.

His family has done just that. His son is an athlete -- he plays tennis among other pursuits. His 11-year-old daughter has recently lost 15 pounds. All of them are eating better.

"We cook together -- I love to cook, just throw stuff together, stir-fry [stuff] with olive oil and vegetables," Davis says. And they've fixed up a number of bicycles that had been gathering dust in the garage and are making extensive use of local bike trails.

"I want to remember and honor the family that has passed before me," he says. "I'm looking only to take care of my family."

Call (501) 707-6600 or visit the website, centralarkansasheartwalk.org. A Heart Walk Care Team is available to answer questions, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (866) 430-9255 or email [email protected].

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Scot Davis, who chaired a Heart Association Heart Walk a dozen years ago in Jonesboro, is in charge of this year’s Heart Walk, April 28 along North Little Rock’s North Shore Riverwalk.

High Profile on 04/15/2018

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