a look at...
Rafael Sciullo and
Mark Hall
photography by Win Wolloff
Rafael Sciullo, CEO of Empath Health/Suncoast Hospice,
and his husband of two years, Mark Hall, sales manager for
Nurse On Call Home Health, live in Dunedin with their two
golden retrievers, Oakley and Paige. The men met online when
Mark was working in Georgia in home health care management.
Rafael, who began as a medical social worker before becoming
an administrator, has worked in hospice and palliative care
for nearly 30 years. He has served as the leader of the Empath
Health parent organization and its affiliates since 2013 with a
$150 million budget, overseeing the challenges of caring for more
than 4,000 patients and clients daily. Before coming to Florida,
he grew one of the smallest hospice providers in Pennsylvania to
become the largest provider between 2001 and 2012.
Rafael earned a master’s degree in health care management from
the Hartford Graduate Center in Hartford, Connecticut; a master’s
in social work from the University of Connecticut; a master of
arts from the University of San Diego in California; a bachelor’s
degree from Duns Scotus College in Southfield, Michigan; and
completed a clinical pastoral education program at Bethesada
Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is on the board of the National
Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the recipient of
their prestigious Founder’s Award. He is nationally recognized
for developing innovative programs serving diverse populations.
Mark, the youngest of six children, is a graduate of Georgia
Southern University with a bachelor’s in communications
and business. He has two adult sons, Matthew and Brandon,
from a previous marriage. He began his healthcare career in
pharmaceutical sales, moving into sales management and then
home health care management. He is the only one from his family
not currently living in Georgia, where he and Rafael had their
first date in Savannah.
At what do you excel?
Mark: I excel at almost anything I decide is important to me,
or that I have a passion for doing.
Rafael: Helping others connect the dots and reach consensus.
What is your favorite word?
Mark: Family.
Rafael: Empathy.
Who is your role model?
Mark: My brother Lawrence, who is 12 years older. From a very
young age, I looked up to him and have always respected his
love for family and his life accomplishments.
Rafael: Mahatma Gandhi.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Mark: Never worry about what others think of you. Always
be who you are.
Rafael: Never forget your life is not yours alone, but one to be
shared with others.
130 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | MAY/JUNE 2019
What don’t people know about you?
Mark: That I am an introvert who has made a successful career
as an extrovert.
Rafael: That I was a musician while I was a Franciscan monk.
What are your favorite words of wisdom?
Mark: The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.
Rafael: It is not the dream from which you learn…it is the search.
What is your motto?
Mark: The journey is never ending!
Rafael: Seize the day because it could define your life.
How do you think other people would describe you?
Mark: Caring, compassionate, a good brother, father and
husband.
Rafael: Hopefully that I always try to do the right thing in the
right way.
What is your fondest memory?
Mark: Having a very close family bond around the age of 5 or
6, when all eight of our family lived in a very modest home
where we were together every day.
Rafael: Having no TV where we slept and creating puppet
shadows on the wall at nighttime with my Dad and two
brothers.
What would you like to do that you have never done?
Mark: Skydive.
Rafael: Spend a month in the vicinity of Sciullo in the town of
Ateleta in the region of Abruzzi, Italy to learn more about the
lives of my grandparents and the vicinity that bears our name.
How would you describe yourself?
Mark: As a person of values and morals. A dedicated family man.
Rafael: Someone who never takes anything for granted.
What do you wish you could do?
Mark: Spend more time giving back to those who have always
given to me.
Rafael: I seldom wish about what I could do. If I want to really
do something, I try to do it.
What is your pet peeve?
Mark: Negative people.
Rafael: Intolerance and a lack of respect for each other.
What talent do you wish you had?
Mark: Playing the piano.
Rafael: To play all of my favorite songs on the violin.
What is the secret to your success?
Mark: Persistence.
Rafael: Being passionate about my life’s work.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
Mark: Doctor.
Rafael: The best at whatever I chose to do. 9