West Baltimore Cardiologist Goes Beyond The Hospital To Care For Black Community
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An influential doctor in West Baltimore goes beyond the call to provide health care to African-Americans from all walks of life.
Caring for people isn't just what Dr. Athol Morgan does best, it's his passion. He's the Director of Cardiology at Grace Medical Center.
"Take the time to do the training, to become very good at it," Dr. Morgan said. "Then figure out how you're going to use it to help other people. After all, that is, as Doctor King said, the most urgent question."
An immigrant from Jamaica, he came to Baltimore 40 years ago to study at Johns Hopkins.
"I happened upon the community of West Baltimore and I have been able to embrace that community, and I like to think in some respects that the community has embraced me," Dr. Morgan said.
It certainly has. Just ask his patients.
"We became a partnership in my health from the day I signed on with him," patient Walter Mulligan said.
They praise him for his persistent dedication to their health.
"(Dr. Morgan is) the real deal," patient Phyllis Owens said. "What you say it is, is what it is. If you can't do it, you don't promise."
His work goes deeper than the hospital.
He spends time going to barbershops and hair salons to educate the Black community about health. He does medical testing and offers vaccine information.
He's also an advocate for health for those who may not be able to afford it.
"The people who don't have the means to pay, that has never been a concern of ours," Dr. Morgan said. "If someone needs to see a good cardiologist, we can always find a way to make that happen."
In his free time, Dr. Morgan can be found with Ms. Haiti and his other horses. Breeding and racing are something he picked up from his father.
When Morgan was asked what he wants to see happen next in his career, he said he wants to see more physicians who look like him in the medical field, working in communities like West Baltimore.