Patch Adams

After he graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1971, Patch Adams began what would become his life-long mission: The Gesundheit Institute. The pilot project, which ran from 1971 through 1983, saw over 15,000 patients visiting his large 6-bedroom communal home, shared with friends, fellow doctors, and patients. To support this radical hospital, friends took outside work to support the love that comes from helping others. As the pilot drawn to a close, Adams realized he needed to make his dream hospital a reality.

No one was going to “give” him a hospital – Adams had to go out into the world and find the hospital of his dreams. After 36 years, Adams remains energized and ready to take on the medical cure-focused for-profit industry.

Imagine:

• a free hospital that eliminates 90% of the cost of healthcare

• a hospital that isn’t filled with anxiety about how to treat patients

• a hospital that allows the doctors to connect with the patients at an intimate level

• a hospital that treats the care-givers and care-receivers as friends

• a hospital that welcomes complementary practices, rather than shuns them.

Adams lectures and performs over 200 days of the year. He has travelled throughout the world delivering his message of peace and love while challenging the audience to love and care about themselves, their community, and our planet. Every year, Adams leads 9 different missions to lead clowns into impoverished communities, war zones, refugee camps, and disaster areas. Adams' dedication toward clowning has sparked a movement that has grown to independent clown groups in 120 countries.