Memphis clinic helps uninsured, restores faith
For the millions of Americans living in poverty, getting medical care isn’t just a matter of money — it’s also about access. On Thursday, “The Early Show” visited , where the only hospital is about to close, and local residents feel hopeless. The flip side of that story is in Memphis, reports CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports.
The Church Center looks like any ordinary doctor’s office anywhere in America.
Doctors and nurses shepherd a steady stream of patients through exams and tests and X-rays.
But looks are deceiving because, says Bowers, the center is anything but ordinary.
“All the Church Health Center is an idea about how to re-correct people to this idea of connecting faith and health,” said Church Health Center founder Dr. Scott Morris.
For 24 years, the Church Health Center has been caring for and caring about the most needy in one of America’s poorest cities. Providing the best medicine money can buy for whatever the pay — in most cases, about $5 a visit, less if that’s too much.
It’s the brainchild of Dr. Morris, who heard the call to heal after he completed seminary and medical school. He moved to Memphis because he heard it was poor. Where better, he figured, to build a place of hope and healing?
“The Christian call to discipleship is to do three things — to preach, to teach and to heal. You know, we got the preach and the teach down. We don’t get to take a pass on the healing part,” Morris said.
The Church Health Center plan is to care for folks who fall through the cracks, people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, but who can’t afford insurance. Folks like landscape artist Nancy Evans, who helped build the center’s gardens and then found herself in need of life-saving surgery.
“The doctor told me the first time I met her, she said you are my patient from the Church Health Center. You owe me nothing but a thank-you,” Evans said.
With just $14 million raised annually through mostly small donations, the center is able to provide care to a staggering 55,000 patients. The key is doctors’ willingness to volunteer time and talent.
“I would argue, the best doctors in Memphis work for me. They work here because they have chosen to do something that provides meaning in their life,” Morris added.
Over the years, this medical ministry has expanded well past the doctor-patient stage. Now there is a massive wellness center, offering everything from cooking classes to cardio training. Diabetic Rosie Morrell weighed 430 pounds when she first came to the center.
“I was looking for one person that was going to be OK, and when I got here, I had a whole center of people that was eager to try and help me,” Morrell said.
Now more than 230 pounds lighter, she’s a believer.
“And now I’m enjoying something I never have enjoyed before, and that’s my life. I’m enjoying Rosie now. I’ve never enjoyed Rosie before,” she explained.
Is it naive to think that it can work on such a large scale when we have so many uninsured in this country today?
“The Church Health Center is not a solution for the monumental health care problems in America. We’re not. You know, we don’t even claim to be. We’re a solution for how the faith community should be involved in health care,” Morris points out. “If there were other church health centers in every city out there doing the same thing, we wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem of the uninsured, but we would make a pretty big impact.”
Like they already have in Memphis.
And Dr. Morris says, despite the success in Memphis, there won’t be any Church Health enter franchises. He says every community has to find what works for itself and when it comes to helping people who need it the very most.
The Church Center looks like any ordinary doctor’s office anywhere in America.
Doctors and nurses shepherd a steady stream of patients through exams and tests and X-rays.
But looks are deceiving because, says Bowers, the center is anything but ordinary.
“All the Church Health Center is an idea about how to re-correct people to this idea of connecting faith and health,” said Church Health Center founder Dr. Scott Morris.
For 24 years, the Church Health Center has been caring for and caring about the most needy in one of America’s poorest cities. Providing the best medicine money can buy for whatever the pay — in most cases, about $5 a visit, less if that’s too much.
It’s the brainchild of Dr. Morris, who heard the call to heal after he completed seminary and medical school. He moved to Memphis because he heard it was poor. Where better, he figured, to build a place of hope and healing?
“The Christian call to discipleship is to do three things — to preach, to teach and to heal. You know, we got the preach and the teach down. We don’t get to take a pass on the healing part,” Morris said.
The Church Health Center plan is to care for folks who fall through the cracks, people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, but who can’t afford insurance. Folks like landscape artist Nancy Evans, who helped build the center’s gardens and then found herself in need of life-saving surgery.
“The doctor told me the first time I met her, she said you are my patient from the Church Health Center. You owe me nothing but a thank-you,” Evans said.
With just $14 million raised annually through mostly small donations, the center is able to provide care to a staggering 55,000 patients. The key is doctors’ willingness to volunteer time and talent.
“I would argue, the best doctors in Memphis work for me. They work here because they have chosen to do something that provides meaning in their life,” Morris added.
Over the years, this medical ministry has expanded well past the doctor-patient stage. Now there is a massive wellness center, offering everything from cooking classes to cardio training. Diabetic Rosie Morrell weighed 430 pounds when she first came to the center.
“I was looking for one person that was going to be OK, and when I got here, I had a whole center of people that was eager to try and help me,” Morrell said.
Now more than 230 pounds lighter, she’s a believer.
“And now I’m enjoying something I never have enjoyed before, and that’s my life. I’m enjoying Rosie now. I’ve never enjoyed Rosie before,” she explained.
Is it naive to think that it can work on such a large scale when we have so many uninsured in this country today?
“The Church Health Center is not a solution for the monumental health care problems in America. We’re not. You know, we don’t even claim to be. We’re a solution for how the faith community should be involved in health care,” Morris points out. “If there were other church health centers in every city out there doing the same thing, we wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem of the uninsured, but we would make a pretty big impact.”
Like they already have in Memphis.
And Dr. Morris says, despite the success in Memphis, there won’t be any Church Health enter franchises. He says every community has to find what works for itself and when it comes to helping people who need it the very most.
