When 10-year-old Marc Moroye’s dad caught his foot in a lawn mower, someone needed to scour the yard for his dad’s big toe. The boy took the job, and it didn’t bother him one bit. Just like that, everyone knew he was made for medicine.
Fast forward more than a few years, and that attitude continues to shine in the boy-turned-doctor. Moroye still knows how to get things done and brings a boyish joy to his work as an Adventist Health Portland internist, primary care provider and clinic administrator.
Recognizing those qualities and many more led Adventist Health Portland executives to choose Moroye for this year’s Crystal Angel Award, which is given annually to a physician who best exemplifies the mission of Adventist Health.
Continuity of care is what led Moroye to internal medicine. He says he values the chance to work with his patients over time and get to know their families as well. “Our office is very mission-oriented,” he says. “It’s less about our time and schedule and just making sure we take care of patients as best we can.”
Moroye says he appreciates his involvement in many areas of health care, from bedside care to medical coding. “All of these are important,” he says. “We want to make sure we take care of the whole patient and not just isolated parts.”
Joyce Newmyer, Adventist Health Portland president, says Moroye's dedication to the whole patient is why he deserves the Crystal Angel Award. “Patients love Marc because they know how much he cares about them and takes the time to know them as people, not just symptoms,” she says. “He truly embraces the Adventist Health mission in every part of his work.”
Moroye recognizes the importance of that sense of calling. “Mission is not what we do one hour a week when we are at church,” he explains. “It’s something we live 24 hours a day. I love how we take care of the community.”
While on her death bed, Moroye’s grandmother gave him two pieces of advice, which he embraces to this day. First, she said, listen to your patients because they know their bodies better than you ever will. Second, what you do is a privilege, and patients are trusting you with the most important thing they have — their health.
Those words linger in Moroye’s mind as well as in his practice. “When patients thank me for taking care of them, I tell them what I do is a privilege,” he says. “I try to make sure I remember that every single day.”
From a young age, Marc Moroye knew his mission was in medicine.
