Patch Adams | |
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 Adams in 2009 | |
| Born | Hunter Doherty Adams (1945-05-28)May 28, 1945 (age 79) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Virginia Commonwealth University (MD) |
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| Children | 2 |
Hunter Doherty "Patch"Adams (born May 28, 1945) is an Americanphysician,comedian,social activist,clown, andauthor. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute as a not-for-profit in 1989. Each year he also organizes volunteers from around the world to travel to various countries wherethey dress as clowns to bring humor to orphans, patients, and other people.[1]
Adams is currently based inUrbana, Illinois. In collaboration with the institute, he promotes an alternative health care model not funded byinsurance policies.[1]
Adams was born on May 28, 1945, inWashington, D.C., the son of Anna Campbell Stewart (née Hunter) and Robert Loughridge Adams.[2][3] His maternal grandfather, Thomas Lomax Hunter, was aPoet Laureate of Virginia. His father, aUnited States Army officer who fought in theKorean War died while stationed inWest Germany when Adams was only 16.[1] After his father's death, Adams returned to the United States with his mother and brother. Adams has stated that upon his return he encounteredracism andsegregation amongst his peers against which he stood up, and this made him a target forbullies at school. As a result, Adams was unhappy and became activelysuicidal. After a thirdhospitalization in one year he decided "you don't kill yourself, stupid; you make revolution."[4]
He attendedWakefield High School, where he graduated in 1963,[5] and then completed pre-med coursework atGeorge Washington University. He began medical school without anundergraduate degree, and earned hisDoctor of Medicine degree at theMedical College of Virginia in theVirginia Commonwealth University in 1971. In the late 1960s, one of his closest friends (a man, not a woman as depicted inthe film) was murdered by a deranged patient. Convinced of the powerful connection betweenenvironment andwellness, he believes the health of an individual cannot be separated from the health of the family, community, and the world.
| Founded | 1989 |
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| Founder | Hunter "Patch" Adams |
| Type | Not-for-profit health care |
| 52-1573251 | |
| Location |
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| Services | Integrative medicine |
Key people | Chair, Cari Brackett, Pharm.D John T. Glick, MD Susan R. Parenti, DMA[6] |
| Website | www |
Soon after graduation, Patch, his wife Linda, and friends started to develop the ideas that eventually led to The Gesundheit! Institute. Originally as the Zanies, they ran as a communal "home" from 1971 to 1984. In 1989 Gesundheit! Institute was founded as a not-for-profit, and has continued to develop to this day. Based in Adams' rural West Virginia property, the institute has since been devoted to fundraising. The latest plan is for a 44-bed community hospital building that will offer free holistic care to "anyone who wants it", along with a teaching facility that can accommodate "120 staff, all living together in the communal ecovillage".[7]
Fees from the 1998 movie "made it possible to build three beautiful buildings... in preparation for the big buildings we want for the hospital". These are a farmhouse, workshop anddacha that accommodate the workshops and courses offered by the institute. The educational philosophy is contained in their "School for Designing a Society (SDaS) – for people who want to change society by means of desire, design, and composition..." and includes courses on caring and workshops on clowning.[8]
Adams was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award on January 29, 1997.[9]
In 2008, Adams agreed to become honorary chair of the "International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment" or IAACM.MindFreedom International, a nonprofit coalition that Gesundheit! belongs to as a sponsor group, launched the IAACM to support "creative maladjustment" and social change.[10]
Since the 1990s Adams has supported theIthaca Health Alliance (IHA) inIthaca, New York,[11] founded as the Ithaca Health Fund (IHF) byPaul Glover. In January 2006, IHA launched the Ithaca Free Clinic, bringing to life key aspects of Adams's vision. Adams has also given strong praise toHealth Democracy, Glover's book written and published the same year.
As of 2016, Adams claims to "lecture 300 days out of the year, and have done so for over 30 years in 81 countries, spreading seeds of a love revolution of enlivening community and a call to end capitalism".[7]
The 1998 filmPatch Adams was based on Adams's life and his views on medicine. Adams has heavily criticized the film, saying it eschewed an accurate representation of his beliefs in favor of commercial viability. He said that out of all aspects of his life and activism, the film portrayed him merely as a funny doctor.[12] Patch Adams also said ofRobin Williams in an interview, "He 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.[13] Patch Adams, the person, would have, if I had Robin's money, givenall $21 million to a free hospital in a country where 80 million cannot get care."[14]
In another interview, Adams clarified that he did not dislike Williams, saying, "I think Robin himself is compassionate, generous and funny. I like to think that that's who I am, and so I think he was the only actor I wanted to play me, and I think he did a fabulous job."[12] Williams also had actively supportedSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital for several years.[15]
Upon hearing of Williams'suicide, Adams released a statement that praised Williams' comedic and improvisational skills on set; noted his compassionate and caring nature; remarked upon his introverted demeanour in private, and his desire for solitude; and thanked him for "his wonderful performance".[16]
As a speaker, Adams travels around the globe lecturing about his medicine methods.[17]
While working in an adolescent clinic atVCU School of Medicine, in his final year of med school, he met Linda Edquist, a fellow VCU student who volunteered in the clinic. Adams and Edquist married in 1975, and had two sons, Atomic Zagnut "Zag" Adams and Lars Zig Edquist Adams; they divorced in 1998.
In March 2021, Adams announced that his left foot had been amputated in a below-the-kneeamputation due to persistent problems from anMRSA infection.[18]
* Ithaca Health Fund * Member-owned Non-profit Mutual Health Security * www.ithacahealth.org
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