Breaking Ground Nugent Will Be First Man To Lead Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood of Spokane and Whitman Counties has a new director and he is a man, the first to run the health clinic in its 25 years.

John Nugent, 47, will start Tuesday.

He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Gonzaga University and a master’s in ethics from the San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Nugent first became interested in reproductive issues when he tried to find a doctor to perform a vasectomy on him when he was in his 20s. Concerned about the exploding world population, he and his wife decided they wouldn’t have children.

Most doctors thought he was crazy to have the operation at his age.

Nugent has been executive director of Hospice of North Idaho for seven years. Before that he was president of CareAge Health Care Systems, a long-term health care facility in Seattle. He has worked in health-care administration for 24 years.

While the Planned Parenthood board expected the new director would be a woman, they saw no problem with hiring a man for the job, said president Gayle Ekins.

Out of 10 finalists for the job, three were men, she said.

“He outscored everybody in every area,” she said of Nugent. “He is very committed to our mission.”

Last summer’s bombing of the Valley office of Planned Parenthood did not seem to scare people away from applying for the job, Ekins said. The nonprofit organization advertised nationwide and dozens of people applied.

Many applicants were screened out, she said, because they were not committed to the organization’s mission, which includes education and legislative advocacy, as well as providing a medical clinic specializing in reproductive issues.

Nugent has no qualms about taking the job. The 50 staff members are dedicated, and he is excited to work with people who are passionate about their jobs, he said.

Raised a Catholic in Seattle, Nugent once considered joining the priesthood. He has since drifted away from organized religion, he said.

His two sons, whom he and his wife adopted when they were ages 8 and 9, are grown.

He taught philosophy at Spokane Falls Community College for several years, but recently resigned that position to accept the job at Planned Parenthood.

While teaching, he encouraged his students to develop a definition of what a person is.

“It’s amazing to watch them determine what is a life and what is a person,” he said.

Nugent said he expects to tackle many of the same health-care issues in his new job as he has seen while caring for people who are dying. Those include patient’s rights, freedom of choice and self-determination. “I really hope to apply my philosophical and ethical backgrounds to the job,” he said.

One of his guiding principles has been that overpopulation causes a decline in society.

“All the problems that people identify in our world - the decline in morals, increase in crime - that’s all attributed to a scarcity of goods,” he said.

“People are trying to get their share, it relates back to world population.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo