Gesundheit!
Author: Patch Adams, M.D., with Maureen Mylander
Publisher: Healing Arts Press (1998), 227 pages
Excerpts from the Introduction
“When a dream takes hold of you, what can you do? You can run with it, let it run your life, or let it go and think for the rest of your life about what might have been.”
“Gesundheit! Institute is the dream of a growing number of people, an experiment in holistic medical care based on the belief that one cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the family, the community, and the world. We have taken the most expensive service in America, medical care, and given it away for free. We are now building a facility in West Virginia that embodies this philosophy: a free, home-style hospital and health center, open to anyone from anywhere. We want this center to be a health care model, not necessarily to be copied by others but to stimulate caregivers and hospitals to develop an ideal medical approach for their communities.”
“One of the most important tenets of our philosophy is that health is based on happiness—from hugging and clowning around to finding joy in family and friends, satisfaction in work, and ecstasy in nature and the arts. For us, healing is not only prescribing medicine and therapies but working together and sharing in a spirit of joy and cooperation. Much more than simply a medical center, the Gesundheit! facility will be a microcosm of life, integrating medical care with farming, arts and crafts, performing arts, education, nature, recreation, friendship and fun.”
“Yes, we want the world to change. Gesundheit! Institute is a sociopolitical act that has grown out of a deep concern for the quality of people’s lives in a world dominated by the values inherent in greed and power. Health care is at a crisis, just as family life and community are in crisis. We don’t want to be a Band-Aid for ailing health care; we want to change the system, to bring about a peaceful revolution. We hope this book will be seen not as the definitive answer but rather as a stimulant to big dreams and big actions. The more we spread the word about our work, the more we help others rethink the system, the more powerful that revolution will be.”
