The Church as Health Center

By Dr. Scott Morris
pastor, physician, founder Church Health Center

Everyone knows that health care is broken and that the status quo is indefensible, but what can we, as people of faith, do to bring real change to our nation's health care system and make all of us healthier?

First, members of Congress need hear from those of us at faith-based clinics who work hard every day to provide affordable health care to uninsured people and their families. If Congress spins this bill like they've covered lots of people but fail to actually do so, they will erode support for faith-based clinics like us and hurt the very people who will continue to rely on us for care.

Congress also needs to hear from people like Bob, a 57-year-old patient of mine who put off seeking care until it hurt too bad to ignore. By the time he made it to me, his cancer had spread to most of his body, and the only treatment I could offer him was hospice. Real people like Bob are dying because they do not have access to care. We all need to face that fact.

But beyond talk, the world needs to see us act in accordance with our faith. Yes, we need to care for the sick, but we also need to work hard to make sure people have access to health care to stay healthy. We put a dollar into prevention for every dollar we spend on patient care for that very reason.

True health care reform will incentivize prevention and find a way to mobilize the larger faith community to effect change from within congregations. Not everyone will come to our wellness center, but millions of people go to church. Imagine the difference the faith community could make!

In fact, the Church Health Center in Memphis is a great example of what a motivated faith community can do. We have become the largest faith-based center of our type in the country because people of faith have made our mission theirs, and they're doing more than writing checks. They're coming to our wellness center, and they're bringing their families, their friends and their pastors. Our wellness center logged more than 120,000 member visits last year.

People of faith are also taking our healthy message into their churches and making vibrant health ministry a priority. To date, we've trained more than 750 Congregational Health Promoters to start or strengthen health ministries within congregations.

Critics say that paying for preventive services isn't cost effective, but we've only invested a miniscule amount of our research dollars in answering the questions of what real prevention should look like. Why haven't we? There's no financial incentive to do so. This must change. Keeping people healthy, especially the people in our work force, makes much more sense than treating people when they can no longer work.

Yes, true health care reform will require a change in priorities in our health care system.

We must stop building financial incentives around technology. The technology we have now would work well for the uninsured if they could just access care. The next version of MRI will provide a prettier picture, but only a few people will be any healthier because of it.

We must recognize that there is a spiritual dimension to life that must be cared for. I'm not suggesting that we write a blank check for mental health treatment, but being poor can be a devastating experience to a person's spirit, and yet the health care system often doesn't recognize that emotional and spiritual suffering can lead to physical illness. We must be open to creative ways to care for this aspect of human life.

More controversially, let's engage the faith community in a national debate around health care at the end of life. How did we come to believe as a nation that death is the enemy? The cost of prolonging a life with little quality is beyond our means to pay for and is morally wrong, yet no one is willing to fully address the issue on a national level.

I will of course be hoping and praying that true universal health care will one day be a reality. Until that day comes, we who are on the front lines of caring for working people will do our job, day in and day out, in the same way the people we care for take care of all of us.

Dr. Scott Morris is the founder and executive director of the Church Health Center in Memphis. The Center's ministries provide health care for the working uninsured and promote healthy bodies and spirits for all. Dr. Morris is also the associate minister at St. John's United Methodist Church.

By Scott Morris |  September 3, 2009; 9:17 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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