Morton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. has its roots in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District. In the immediate aftermath of this disaster, the American Red Cross provided care to the injured families in makeshift tents and was designated by the mayor as the official relief agency.  Subsequently, the Maurice Willows Hospital on North Hartford was built and opened to provide care.   The hospital was named after Mr. Maurice Willows, Director of Natural Disaster with the American Red Cross in honor of his heroic efforts to cross racial barriers to help those who lived in and around the Greenwood District and Black Wall Street.

In 1932, the City of Tulsa replaced the hospital with a municipal hospital at the corner of Pine and Greenwood named Moton Memorial Hospital in honor of Robert Russa Moton, President of the Tuskegee Institute. Mr. Moton served as president of Tuskegee Institute from 1890-1915. He succeeded Booker T. Washington. (More information about Moton at http://www.motonmuseum.org).

The City of Tulsa transferred management of the municipal hospital to a board of community representatives in 1941. The Office of Economic Opportunity and the Tulsa City-County Health Department supported the hospital at this time.

In 1967, after decades of serving north Tulsa residents, Moton Memorial Hospital closed. A year later, the facility reopened as Moton Health Center, providing ambulatory care only.

In 1972, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare provided grant support to the health center to enable Moton to obtain federal standing with the Bureau of Primary Health Care as a Federally Qualified Health Care Center.

In 1983, the Bureau of Primary Health Care renamed the facility Morton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. The name was in honor of W. A. Morton, M.D., a local physician with a distinguished record of service at Moton Memorial Hospital.

In 1998, the Midtown Homeless Health Center opened as an embedded clinic with the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope to provide health care to unhoused individuals who used emergency shelter or transitional housing.  The East Tulsa Family Health Center opened in 2002, to serve the growing Hispanic and Asian communities in east Tulsa.  Morton’s Nowata Family Health Center opened in 2002 serving the rural communities in northeastern Oklahoma.

In 2006, Morton opened a 60,000 square foot facility in the historic Greenwood District funded by the citizens of Tulsa County through a civic improvement initiative, Vision 2025.  Morton’s Main Health Center expanded its services as the leading health care provider in the northern sector of Tulsa.

In 2008, Morton became one of only two federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in the state of Oklahoma to receive The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO).

Morton embedded a primary care clinic at Family and Children’s Services in 2011, creating one of the first opportunities to directly combine primary care with community mental health services.

Morton became a federally approved Teaching Health Center for Medical Residents in 2012 and continues that partnership with Oklahoma State University.  In partnership with Oklahoma Southwestern State University, Morton hosts an embedded Pharm D who trains pharmacy students.  Morton trains OU dental students, nursing students, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

In 2015, Morton opened West Tulsa Family Health Center embedded with Sandy Park, a Tulsa Housing Authority complex.

Morton is a certified Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) where continuity of care is prioritized to deliver high- quality, cost-efficient primary health care.  The patient centered, culturally appropriate and team based approach allows for coordinated patient care across Morton’s system.

The Morton primary care health system is a private, not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) IRS status governed by a diverse Board of Directors comprised of community representatives and patients. Morton offers full scope primary care, dental services, optometry, behavioral health, case management, lab and x-ray, a discount pharmacy and numerous specialized programs to address chronic care management.  Uniquely, Morton has its own transportation system to ensure that patients have access to care.  Morton welcomes all patients and works to ensure that patient care is affordable, accessible and consistently high quality.