Morris Green

(May 27, 1922-Aug. 13, 2013). An Indianapolis native, Morris Green was the son of Coleman and Rebecca Oleinick Green, immigrants from Lithuania who owned a neighborhood grocery store located at 855 North Park Avenue. Green attended Shortridge High School and then went on to Indiana University, where he earned undergraduate and medical degrees. He served as a public health officer after his medical class was inducted into military service in December 1944. Following a pediatric residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (1947–1949), he continued as faculty before moving to Yale University in 1952, where he won numerous teaching awards.

Green returned to Indiana University in August 1957 as director of ambulatory services. From 1967 to 1987, he served as chairman of the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and the first physician-in-chief of Riley Hospital for Children. Under his leadership, department growth accelerated, highly skilled faculty were recruited, and a pediatric residency program was developed.

Green’s multidisciplinary approach became a national model for pediatric care. By example, he showed medical staff how patient interview and social history were as important as the physical exam; practiced family-centered care, including both parents and siblings; and urged round-the-clock visitation for inpatients. To improve patient care, he brought together specialists to provide a multidisciplinary approach, leading to shorter hospitalizations and fewer return clinic visits.

He authored countless articles on topics related to pediatrics, and his Pediatric Diagnosis (1980) and Ambulatory Pediatrics (1990) were leading textbooks in the field. He also provided graduate medical education programs to local pediatricians and family practitioners. In 1970, Green was named chairman of the Health Section on the White House Conference on Children, Washington, D.C. He served as commissioner of health for the State of Indiana from 1990 to 1991.

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