Jordan Ellis
Patch Adams is an American physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute as a not-for-profit organisation in 1989. The institute is based on Adams' rural West Virginia property and has been devoted to fundraising for a 44-bed community hospital building that will offer free holistic care. In 1998, a film based on Adams' life was released, which he heavily criticised for its failure to accurately represent his beliefs and for not contributing any profits to his hospital project. As of 2011, Adams has been working towards constructing a Teaching Center in West Virginia, which will allow him to see patients and teach healthcare system design.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of birth | 1945 |
| Name | Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams |
| Occupation | Physician, comedian, social activist, clown, author, public speaker |
| Founded | Gesundheit! Institute |
| Year founded | 1989 |
| Type of institute | Not-for-profit |
| Based in | Urbana, Illinois |
| Purpose | To promote an alternative health care model not funded by insurance policies |
| Current plan | To build a 44-bed community hospital offering free holistic care |
| Movie based on his life | Patch Adams |
| Year of movie release | 1998 or 1999 |
| Reason for agreeing to the movie | To help build his hospital |
| Did the movie help build the hospital? | No |
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What You'll Learn
Patch Adams' criticism of the film
Patch Adams is a 1998 comedy-drama film directed by Tom Shadyac. It is based on the life of American physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and author Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams. The film stars Robin Williams as Patch Adams, a medical doctor who, after developing suicidal thoughts, admits himself to a mental institution. While there, he discovers that using humour helps his fellow patients and gives him a new purpose.
Despite its commercial success, the film received negative reviews from critics and was heavily criticised by the real Patch Adams. Adams agreed to the film being made because the filmmakers promised to help build his hospital, but none of the profits from the film were given to his foundation. He also felt that the film prioritised commercial viability over an accurate representation of his beliefs and activism.
Adams elaborated on his criticism in an interview with New Renaissance magazine, where he said:
> After the movie, there wasn't a single positive article about our work or me. There were dumb, stupid, meaningless things...it made my children cry. They actually thought that they didn't know the person they were reading about. I knew the movie would do this. I would become a funny doctor. Imagine how shallow that is relative to who I am.
Adams also took issue with the film's portrayal of Robin Williams' character, stating:
> [Robin Williams] made $21 million for four months of pretending to be me, in a very simplistic version, and did not give $10 to my free hospital. Patch Adams, the person, would have, if I had Robin's money, given all $21 million to a free hospital in a country where 80 million cannot get care.
In addition to Adams' criticism, the film received negative reviews from critics such as Roger Ebert, who wrote:
> Patch Adams made me want to spray the screen with Lysol. This movie is shameless. It's not merely a tearjerker. It extracts tears individually by liposuction, without anesthesia.
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The Gesundheit! Institute
The institute has its roots in Adams' own experiences with the healthcare system. As a teenager, Adams was hospitalized several times for suicidal thoughts. During these stays, he witnessed a cold and clinical approach to patient care, devoid of empathy and emotional support. This experience shaped his perspective on healthcare, and he decided to dedicate his life to serving humanity and revolutionizing the healthcare system.
Gesundheit! Institute is the culmination of Adams' vision for what healthcare could be. It operated as a free community hospital from 1971 to 1984, offering holistic and patient-centered care. The institute integrates traditional medical treatment with alternative approaches, emphasizing the importance of friendship and laughter in the healing process.
In 2011, construction began on a Teaching Center in West Virginia, which will allow the institute to resume seeing patients and provide a space for teaching healthcare system design. The ultimate dream is to build a 44-bed community hospital with a teaching program that can accommodate 120 staff living together in a communal ecovillage. To raise awareness and funds for this project, Adams agreed to the 1999 film "Patch Adams," starring Robin Williams. However, he was disappointed that none of the profits from the film went towards building the hospital as promised.
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Patch Adams' early life
Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams was born on May 28, 1945, in Washington, D.C. His parents were Anna Campbell Stewart (née Hunter) and Robert Loughridge Adams. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Lomax Hunter, was a Poet Laureate of Virginia. His father, a United States Army officer, fought in the Korean War and died while stationed in West Germany when Adams was 16 years old.
Adams attended Wakefield High School, graduating in 1963. He then completed pre-med coursework at George Washington University before starting medical school without an undergraduate degree. During his time in high school, Adams was placed in an all-white school where he was confronted with racism and segregation. He got into trouble with his classmates and was beaten up for standing up against the racism that surrounded him. He was hospitalized three times in his late teens due to suicidal thoughts and the injustice and violence of the world around him. However, during his third hospitalization, he decided that instead of taking his own life, he would make a "love revolution".
Adams earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at the Medical College of Virginia in the Virginia Commonwealth University in 1971. In the late 1960s, one of his closest friends was murdered by a deranged patient, which had a profound impact on his views on the connection between environment and wellness. He believes that the health of an individual is intricately linked to the health of their family, community, and the world.
Soon after graduating from medical school, Adams, along with his wife Linda and friends, began developing the ideas that eventually led to the Gesundheit! Institute. The institute was founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1989 and is based on Adams' rural West Virginia property. The institute is dedicated to fundraising and promoting an alternative healthcare model not funded by insurance policies. It has since expanded its work, with Adams organizing volunteers from around the world to travel to various countries, bringing joy and humour to orphans, patients, and others.
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The 1999 film's profits
The 1998 film Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams, was a box-office success, grossing $202.3 million worldwide against a $50–90 million budget. In its opening weekend alone, the film grossed $25.2 million in 2,712 theatres in the United States and Canada, ranking number one at the box office.
Patch Adams, the man, agreed to the film being made on the basis that the profits would be used to build his free hospital. However, none of the profits from the film were given to his foundation. Adams has been openly critical of the film, saying: "I hate that movie". He also stated that the film portrayed him as merely a "funny doctor" and not as an activist.
Despite the film's success, Adams did not receive any money from it. In a speech in 2010, Adams said: "The film promised to build our hospital. None of the profits from the film ever came to us, and so, basically 40 years into this work, we are still trying to build our hospital".
The film's profits did, however, help to increase visibility for the project and opened many new doors for the Gesundheit Institute to pursue.
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The hospital's plans
The Hospitals Plans
Patch Adams founded the Gesundheit Institute, a not-for-profit organisation, in 1989. The institute is based in Adams' rural West Virginia property and has been devoted to fundraising for a hospital building. The hospital will be a 44-bed community hospital offering free holistic care to anyone who wants it. It will also include a teaching facility that can accommodate 120 staff, all living together in a communal ecovillage.
The institute has already constructed a farmhouse, workshop, and dacha to accommodate the workshops and courses offered. In 2011, they also began construction of a Teaching Center in West Virginia, which will allow them to see patients and provide a space for teaching healthcare system design.
The institute's mission is primarily educational and inspirational, with a focus on influencing discussions of healthcare delivery systems globally. The hospital project aims to deliver care in a context that models their ideal design, while the Teaching Center educates healthcare practitioners to create their own ideal systems.
Patch Adams has been critical of the 1998 film based on his life, stating that it failed to accurately represent his beliefs and did not benefit his hospital financially. He agreed to the film based on the promise that it would help build his hospital, but none of the profits were ever directed towards the institute.
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Frequently asked questions
No, he did not. Patch Adams founded the Gesundheit! Institute, a not-for-profit organisation, in 1989. The institute is based in Adams' rural West Virginia property and has been devoted to fundraising for a 44-bed community hospital building that will offer free holistic care.
In 2011, the institute began construction of its first big building, a Teaching Centre in West Virginia. The centre will allow the institute to see patients and provide a space to teach healthcare system design. The institute has also built clinics and a school at some of the places visited by their humanitarian clowning trips.
Patch Adams agreed to the film adaptation of his namesake because they promised to help build his hospital. However, none of the profits from the film were given to his foundation. The film was heavily criticised by Adams for not accurately portraying his beliefs and activism.
