Morehouse School of Medicine, a historically Black medical school based in Atlanta, Georgia, is looking to expand its partnership with CommonSpirit Health by adding a new regional medical campus at the CHI Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In 2020, Morehouse and CommonSpirit launched the “More in Common Alliance” to increase the number of Black health care providers and address health care disparities facing underrepresented groups in the United States. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, Black people represent 14 percent of the population, yet only account for 5.7 percent of doctors in the United States.
Currently, Morehouse School of Medicine students can complete elective rotations at CHI Memorial Hospital. By expanding their partnership with other hospitals in the CommonSpirit Health group, Morehouse leaders hope to offer residency programs that allow medical students to stay in the Chattanooga area for the entirety of their residency training. This will provide Morehouse students with a more seamless training experience, as well as increase the number of underrepresented medical professionals in the Chattanooga community.
