Church Health: A Hero in Care
A Great Need In Our City
It’s no secret that health care costs continue to increase year after year and for many households, two incomes are required just to meet the monthly rate of healthcare premiums. In a city like Memphis, where the average wage falls somewhere around $48,000 annually (15% lower than the national average), many families feel strapped to cover their day to day bills, small businesses often cannot afford to offer their employees healthcare and other times, the mere cost of the monthly rate just doesn’t make sense. So, like many urban centers, Memphis faces an epidemic of the uninsured…with approximately 100,000 Memphians living their lives with zero healthcare provision every day. A broken limb, a prolonged illness, or any devastating injury could indebt or bankrupt these citizens in the blink of an eye.
A Heart for Our City & Her Needs
The story of Church Health starts over 35 years ago when Dr. Scott Morris moved to Memphis with a mission in mind. Dr. Morris knew that Memphis was one of the most impoverished large cities in America and as an ordained Methodist minister and a recent medical graduate from Emory University, he knew there would be plenty of work to be done within the local healthcare community. His goal was clear: provide for both the spiritual and physical needs of the patient. With the purchase of an old midtown Memphis home converted into a clinic, and the commitment of one nurse, Dr. Morris opened up Church Health in 1987. He saw 12 patients the very first day and a community of compassionate healthcare was formed.
Under Dr. Morris’ vision, uninsured and underinsured Memphians could apply for the critical health care they needed at reasonable pay-out-of-pocket costs. And because Dr. Morris was fully convinced that true health meant comprehensive, whole body care, his non-profit practice was soon hiring dentists, nutritionists, and even behavioral therapists to address deeper, psychological issues. The practice certainly found it’s stride. By 1991, Church health had seen 10,000 patients and was growing exponentially every year. Memphians who had never had access to regular doctor appointments could now pursue health in all forms surrounded by a team of healthcare professionals to help them meet goals and maintain healthy habits. In the early 90’s, Church Health created the MEMPHIS plan, an alternative to traditional health insurance that allows small business owners to offer Church Health services to their employees at fair prices.
The key was always keeping Church Health faith-based. For Dr. Morris, his Christian faith informed every move he made in caring for the sick. In recent years, he’s spearheaded ECHO (Empowering Church Health Outreach), a consultation branch of Church Health that has helped launch over 90 new faith-based non-profit clinics around the country. Meanwhile, Church Health has met the needs of over 61,000 Memphians since it’s creation in 1987.
Dr. Scott Morris, founder & CEO of Church Health
A New Generation
The work of Church Health is not limited to patient care. The organization offers a gap year program for future medical students between college and med school as well as a residency for family practice physicians following medical school. Through these scholar opportunities, they’ve served over 1,000 future doctors, training them in how to care for the whole person in every walk of life.
Church Health has been a beacon of hope and health in Memphis for over three decades now and Dr. Morris certainly stands out as one of the cities’ heroes. His dedication to the hardworking but underinsured has made vast strides in our communities’ overall health practices as well as its outlook. Knowing there is help, there is advocacy, and there is care has meant so much to ten of thousands of Memphians.