Scott Middleton
The Agapé facilities dedicated to assisted living are distributed along the Grand Strand and across the Midlands, and there’s one in Laurens, all called Agapé Senior. On the coast, there are facilities in Conway and in Garden City. In Greater Columbia, there’s one at Harbison, Kathwood, Lexington, and West Columbia.
Even further distributed across the state are the Agapé Hospice locations geographically clustered: Upstate – Anderson, Laurens; Piedmont – Rock Hill; Pee Dee – Cheraw, Hartsville, Bennettsville; Lowcountry – Barnwell, Hampton, Ridgeland, Aiken; Grand Strand – Myrtle Beach, Conway, Lake City.
In West Columbia, Rock Hill, and Conway, there are locations for rehabilitation and skilled nursing, and the transitional care units are in the same communities.
Rounding out the company concerns are the integrated healthcare services: pharmacy, primary care, home medical, and ambulance. Agapé has its own property arm, Agapé Properties, and its own insurance agency, GMM Insurance.
Above it all is the head office occupied by Rev. G. Scott Middleton, who is responsible for operations and fiscal management for the 14 entities that make up the Agapé family of companies.
Middleton was born in Harlen, Ky., where his father worked for Belk’s Department Stores. The family moved to the Upstate when Middleton was six. His father was the store manager for Belk’s in Laurens for 25 years, and during the time Belk’s simplified its name to Belk.
While a student at Laurens District 55 High School, Middleton was a class officer and carried the tuba and the Sousaphone for the school band. His part- time and summer work included stints at Belk’s.
Middleton majored in accounting at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and he taught swimming when he could swing the time. He was the youth director for St. John’s Methodist Church for two years.
Immediately after graduating from Winthrop, Middleton entered divinity school at Emory University in Decatur, Ga. He preached in the Methodist Church for about ten years, which included extensive time in Walterboro and Rock Hill.
Middleton met his wife Evelyn at the Candler School of Theology at Emory. She is the associate minister at Columbia’s Washington Street Methodist Church. Evelyn is a voracious reader, sometimes reading four to five books a week. Middleton enjoys traveling with his well- read wife.
The Middletons have two children, Greg (19) and Sara (16). Greg is majoring in healthcare administration at Winthrop. His off- campus job is in bookkeeping for the Agapé Foundation. Sara is in high school at Brookland- Cayce, and she works part- time in social services for Agapé.
Middleton’s parents live in Saluda, N.C., and they commute to their antique shop, Middleton Antiques, in Hendersonville, N.C.
After about ten years as a Methodist minister, Middleton returned to school at USC for a master’s degree in health administration. He entered the health management field with Columbia’s Moore Orthopaedic Clinic, where he was responsible for managed care contracts, marketing, and personnel for the 12- physician specialty practice.
Following Moore, Middleton joined Lutheran Homes of South Carolina, first as an administrator for the Lowman Home near Lake Murray and then as the state administrator for three assisted living facilities and also for the Lowman Home.
Ten years ago this month, Middleton bought a small West Columbia business called Agapé and took it from there.
The Agapé family of companies is big and spread out, but the large scale and the many locations allow Middleton to always be sure he can deliver what his people need.
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