ATLANTA — The Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta is expanding its efforts to address health care disparities and improve medical access across Georgia.
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of the institution, is leading the push for health equity by training a new generation of health care professionals to serve in the state’s most underserved communities.
Founded in 1975 under the leadership of Dr. Louis Sullivan, the school has spent decades working to fill gaps in Georgia’s medical landscape.
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The institution focuses on providing care in accessible locations and ensuring that medical professionals are available in areas where the population lacks sufficient providers.
Dr. Rice told Channel 2’s Fred Blankenship that historical need led to the school’s founding.
She noted that during the institution’s early years, Georgia had approximately 93 Black physicians serving 75% of the state’s Black population.
“[Dr. Sullivan] saw the need that could be filled if we were graduating more Black physicians,” Rice said.
Originally a two-year institution, the school grew to offer a PhD program beginning in 1992. Since then, the school has produced more than 3,000 graduates, including doctors, nurses and other health care professionals.
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Despite the increase in graduates, Rice said many parts of the state still face significant health care shortages. She explained that several Georgia counties remain underserved because they lack the necessary number of providers to support the local population.
“Some of the real challenges that we see in Georgia is that we have several counties that are clearly underserved, and they’re underserved because we don’t have enough health care providers to meet the needs of the population in those counties,” Rice said.
To address these regional shortages, the school utilizes a specific recruitment strategy targeting students from underrepresented backgrounds.
“We recruit students from underrepresented counties, underrepresented communities in the state of Georgia,” Rice said.
She noted that because of the training and experience the school provides, many of these students eventually return to their home communities to practice medicine.
Rice serves as an advocate for health equity, pushing for all residents of Georgia to have reliable access to medical services.
“We want to provide care to people in places where they work, live, play and pray,” Rice said.
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