Former Tulsa Hospital To Be Revived As Black Business Incubator Hub

Greenwood’s Moton Hospital, which once served victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, is being restored as a business resource and incubator hub for Black entrepreneurs.

Moton Hospital

Originally known as the Maurice Willows Hospital, the Moton Hospital was erected after the devastating 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 

The Tulsa Race Massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre between May 31 and June 1, when mobs of white residents attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

The North Tulsa hospital offered critical care to the victims of that tragic event that scarred Greenwood.

A decade later, the current building replaced the facility and was renamed for Robert Russa Moton, a former president of the Tuskegee Institute and W.A. Morton, a doctor at the health center.

The hospital served much of Tulsa’s minority and lower-income population until closing in 1967.

On Aug 2 of this year, the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation held a demolition ceremony to mark the start of the construction of the resource center.

Restored and Remodelled

The opening of the business resource hub will serve a new generation of Black entrepreneurs with 9,500 square foot space, 30 workspaces, a 40-person meeting space, conference rooms, a lounge and a kitchen.

There was a $5 million investment from the City of Tulsa and Tulsa County into GEM and 3.5 acres of land under development.

An entrepreneur seeking to occupy a space must have completed a cohort program through TEDC or have an approved business plan actively being launched.

“Those enrolled in a TEDC cohort program will have the ability to co-work at GEM at no cost,” Rose Washington, VP and CEO of TEDC, told The Black Wall Street Times.

The remodel is a partnership between Partner Tulsa, the city of Tulsa and TEDC and is expected to open in late 2024.

“It means creating physical spaces where Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs can access the resources and mentorship they need to launch and grow their businesses and ensuring they can access capital through targeted loan funds,” PartnerTulsa Executive Director Kian Kamas said.