Church Health: Serving the underserved in Memphis since 1987

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis organization is working to make sure health care is affordable for every working person who needs it — no insurance, no problem.

A bit of medical magic lies inside Crosstown Concourse in Midtown. The $40 walk-in clinic at Church Health is one part of the 150,000-square-foot clinic in Crosstown Concourse’s West Wing.

They’re here to serve, no matter what your problem is, whether it’s a cold, a broken bone, or you’re at death’s doorstep.

Dr. Scott Morris is the mastermind behind their not-for-profit faith-based health care.

“I’m a Methodist. John Wesley said ‘the world is my parish,'” Morris said. “I came to Memphis because I literally read somewhere that Memphis was the poorest major city in America.”

Morris combined his dedication as an ordained minister and doctor.

“I’m a real doctor,” he said. “ I spent my mornings playing doctor. That’s why I got this white coat on.”

He’s working to make sure hard-working Memphians are not going without critical health care, even if they don’t have insurance

“I was in seminary trying to figure out what I wanted to do. And then one day I was in the chaplain’s office at the Yale Medical School, and I looked on his desk and there was a little pamphlet that said ‘how to start a church based health clinic.’ And I go, That’s it. That’s what I want to do.”

And that one little encounter led to the creation of Church Health in 1987.

Since then, they’ve helped thousands.

“I remember seeing a man who had worked in concrete. He needed his knee replaced,” Morris said. “We had all the things he needed: the surgeon, the prostheses, the hospital, not going to get a bill. And then I tell him we’re going to take away the pain. He then asked me, Well, I have to miss work. Yes, you’re going to miss work.”

Dr. Morris says that’s the story for most patients.

“You don’t work, you don’t get paid. Don’t get paid, your kids don’t eat. So getting people back to work is actually our highest priority,” he said.

Church Health has 54 exam rooms on two floors.

How does it all work?

“We have a thousand physicians who volunteer with us. The best doctors in Memphis are willing to see patients of Church Health for free,” Morris said. We work with the hospital through their charity programs that allow for people to end up paying very little, or maybe not at all. Once they get qualified for the program.”

They’re coming together to serve the underserved.

“What it all says to me is that, you know, this is what’s possible in God’s imagination,” Morris said.

► You can help

WREG is partnering with Church Health for Giving Day on July 30.

Until midnight on 7/30, you can offer TWICE the hope and healing to patients who have nowhere to turn when they’re sick and hurt. Every gift is matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000.

• $18 covers protective equipment for each dental appointment. (Today it’s doubled to cover TWO dental appointments)
• $100 provides care for a patient with a broken bone. (Today it’s doubled to care for TWO patients/broken bones)
• $500 provides treatment of a patient’s diabetes for six months. (Today it’s doubled to cover TWELVE months)
• $1,000 operates our clinic lab for a day. (Today it’s doubled to cover TWO days).

Go to https://churchhealth.org/givingday/

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