Dr. Patch Adams
Extraordinary! One man I can look up to and respect,
Incredibly,
mind blowing and memorable,
and Incredibly inspiring,
amazing human being, invaluable to hear him first hand
…are
among the words heard from participants’ after experiencing Patch
Adams, the real person behind the hit movie Patch Adams,
starring
Robin Williams.
Patch is both a medical doctor and a clown…but he is also a social activist who has devoted 30 years to changing America's healthcare system, a system which he describes as expensive and elitist.
He believes that laughter, joy and creativity are an integral part of
the healing process and therefore true health care must incorporate such
life. Doctors and patients in his model relate to each other on the basis
of mutual trust, and patients receive plenty of time from their doctors.
Allopathic doctors and practitioners of alternative medicine will work
side by side. If you think that all sounds like a utopian impossibility,
it isn't. Patch and his colleagues practiced medicine at the Gesundheit
Institute together in West Virgina that way for 12 years in what he calls
their pilot project.
They saw 15,000 patients. Patch
Adams has devoted his life to the study of what makes people happy.
Through the success of this program at the Arlington, Virginia location,
a model health care facility is being planned on 310 acres purchased in
Pocahontas County, WV. The Institute will include a 40-bed hospital, a
theater, arts and crafts shops, horticulture and vocational therapy. Over
five years ago, Dr. Adams and staff temporarily stopped seeing patients
so that they could coordinate plans for raising $5 Million needed for the
Institute's permanent and expanded home, a model health
care community.
Currently planned is an immediate phase of this dream,
a $400,000 WV facility so that their medical service to patients can resume
within the next two years.
The Institute addresses, by action, four major issues in health care delivery: the rising cost of care, dehumanization of medicine, malpractice suits, and abuses of third-party insurance system.
Dr. Adams adds to his training as a physician, his experience as a street
clown. In working with health and mental health professionals, he explores
the relationship between humor and therapy using his unique blend of knowledge,
showmanship and hands on
teaching techniques. Says
Dr. Adams, I interpret my experience in life as being happy.
I want, as a doctor, to say it does matter to your health to be happy.
It may be the most important health factor in your life.
Patch Adams, M.D., is a nationally known speaker on wellness, laughter,
and humor as well as on health care and health care systems. He approaches
the issues of personal, community, and global health with zestful
exuberance,
according to Time Magazine. Dr. Adams believes
that the most revolutionary act one can commit in our world
is to be happy.
