Seale Harris Clinic

Seale Harris (1870-1957), born in Cedartown, Georgia, received the M.D. degree at the University of Virginia in 1894 and completed postgraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. During the first World War, he served in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army under Surgeon General William Crawford Gorgas, and edited the journal, War Medicine, published in Paris. Returning to private practice after the war, the Seale Harris Clinic was established in 1922 in a small office within the Empire Buildingin downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The practice grew rapidly and was relocated to Birmingham's Southside, where Dr. Harris was instrumental in building the 50-bed "Gorgas Hospital Hotel" adjacent to his house. This later became known as Highland Avenue Baptist Hospital. During those years, he led a distinguished career as a physician and prolific writer, earning international recognition and the Distinguished Service Award fom the American Medical Association.

Working closely with Dr. Harris in his research of diabetes was James F. Crenshaw, M.D., who also later served in the Army. During World War II, as a member of the Army of Occupation, Dr. Crenshaw was the first physician to use penicillin in Japan; following the war, he was the successor to the Seale Harris legacy. The 1960s saw the construction of a new campus for the Highland Avenue Baptist Hospital, which became the Montclair Baptist Medical Center and the new home of the Seale Harris Clinic. In 1995, Dr. Crenshaw published a book, Across This Doctor's Horizons: My Own Mission Field. After the death of Dr. Crenshaw in 2001, the practice was passed to his son, Dr. James H. Crenshaw.

Today, the main office of the Seale Harris Clinic remains in the Professional Building of the Montclair Baptist Medical Center, which in 2006 became Trinity Medical Center. A new second location, named Seale Harris Clinic South, was opened in November 2003, near the HealthSouth corporate headquarters on Hwy 280 in Birmingham; this was relocated in November 2006, to 200 Montgomery Hwy 31, Suite 100 in Vestavia Hills, Alabama near the Brookwood Medical Center.

The Seale Harris Clinic is now a multi-specialty facility, with 4 internists, 3 family practitioners, 2 gastroenterologists, 1 endocrinologist and 1 otolaryngologist. Diagnostic modalities on the premises include digital radiography, ultrasound imaging, DEXA bone-density scanning, and Cardiolite treadmill testing. The physicians are on staff at Trinity Medical Center and Brookwood Medical Center.