Ministry Overview

30 years ago with lot of community support His Branches, Inc., a nonsectarian 501(c)3 faith-based organization, opened on Arnett Boulevard in the heart of the City of Rochester, NY, as part of a progressive vision, dream, and prayer. The vision was of people from all walks of life being helped by gifted Christian doctors and nurses working with others who were living out their faith caring for those in need. The dream included people living in communities where children could grow up in healthy families, play in safe neighborhoods, worship in vibrant churches, and learn in enriching schools. Together with Jesus, our prayer was and has always been “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!”

Since those early days, the vision has remained intact while the structure has undergone significant revision. Medical services, which were once offered under the independent sponsorship of The Chapel Guidance Center, Inc., have been brought under the corporate sponsorship of His Branches and identified to the community as Grace Family Medicine Associates (GFM), the name under which a Physician, Nurse Practitioner, and Physician Assistant currently operate in private practice. His Branches contracts with the providers to provide faith-based primary care to an underserved population and, in turn, provides space and administrative services for which the providers are billed accordingly. Patients are billed directly in each provider's name in a manner ranging from private pay on a sliding fee scale up through all the major insurance carriers, including Medicaid and Medicare. A primary goal of our associated providers (one of the few groups in Rochester that offers medical care on a sliding fee scale) is to make their services accessible and affordable for anyone who comes through our door.

Beyond the three full-time practitioners, the staff is comprised of 5 full-time equivalent administrative staff and one full-time nurse. These staff are all hired by His Branches and provided to the clinicians for their medical service in the context of their private practices. Funding for the current arrangement is almost entirely borne by the providers through receipts from their patient encounters. Each health professional is independently licensed and is responsible for maintaining their credentials and quality of care. From the beginning, this “sheltered private practice” arrangement has been working in NY by legally allowing the uncompromised and openly faith-based practice of medicine, supported by spiritually compatible staff.

Our Board of Directors is made up of 9 members, 2 African American and 7 Anglo American, 8 men and 1 woman. The members are local community business and not-for-profit professionals, some of who have been serving His Branches Inc. for many years. Our Board is already in an active internal growth process to further diversify the skills and composition of the Board with plans to expand to 12 members.

In addition to the medical services being offered by our providers, His Branches also has collaborative relationships with several other institutions. These collaborative partners are part of a broader vision for our community in which we desire to go beyond individual medical needs to address broader community needs. 

As the founder of this ministry, Dr. William Morehouse has maintained and promoted a progressive vision for healthy and whole communities. His faithful service has been felt throughout the City of Rochester and beyond. There are few places you can go in Rochester that do not know about Dr. Morehouse. While many doctors have come and gone during his tenure, Dr. Morehouse and his family have lived in the same neighborhood as His Branches for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized for numerous achievements, including being honored in 2002 with the "Leo Holmsten Human Life Award" for his pro-life work in the community and in 2005 with the "Health Care Achievement Award" by the Rochester Business Journal. He has also served for years as the Faculty Advisor for the Christian medical students at the University of Rochester and was instrumental in starting and maintaining an active parallel to the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) in the Rochester area called the Greater Rochester Medical Center Christian Fellowship (GRMCCF).

Through these affiliations we have begun to partner with our regional counterparts in the Buffalo area in growing relationship with Drs. Myron Glick, David Holmes, and their associates, and believe that our collaboration has the potential to make a significant impact on the availability of faith-based health care in Western New York. It has long been a partially fulfilled dream of Dr. Morehouse’s to export his vision for care to other areas and see his work outlive his service locally. This grant will support a major step for His Branches Inc. in cultivating that process and beginning to the lay the foundations for his transition.