Patch Adams

About Patch Adams

Who is it?: Physician
Birth Day: May 28, 1945
Birth Place: Washington, D.C., United States
Birth Sign: Gemini
Education: M.D., Virginia Commonwealth University
Alma mater: George Washington University
Home town: Arlington, Virginia
Spouse(s): Linda Edquist (1975–98; divorced)
Children: Atomic Zagnut Adams Lars Zig Edquist Adams
Parent(s): Robert Loughridge Adams Anna Campbell Adams
Relatives: Robert Loughridge "Wildman" Adams, Jr. (brother)
Founded: 1971
Founder: Hunter "Patch" Adams
Type: Not-for-profit Health care
Tax ID no.: 52-1573251
Location: Hillsboro, West Virginia, United States
Services: Integrative medicine
Key people: Chair, Cari Brackett, Pharm.D John T. Glick, MD Susan R. Parenti, DMA
Website: http://www.patchadams.org/

Patch Adams Net Worth

Patch Adams was born on May 28, 1945 in Washington, D.C., United States, is Physician. Patch Adams is an American physician, clown and a social activist, who believes in treating his patients with love, humor and creativity, apart from the traditional medical services. His suicidal attempts as a teenager got him hospitalized three times in a year and he decided to change all this forever. To give shape to his vision, he earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at Virginia Commonwealth University (Medical College of Virginia) in 1971. Passionate about spreading love and laughter all around, he founded Gesundheit! Institute as a free community hospital. After running it for free for 12 years, he moved out of his cocoon and traveled worldwide, giving presentations and delivering lectures to medical schools and conferences to spread awareness about the alternative medical facilities for treating patients, thereby bringing a change to the existing healthcare system in America. He also made clown trips to hospitals, elder homes, orphanages, war zones, natural disaster sites, and refugee camps. Of late, he is working hard to re-build Gesungheit Institute as a community eco-village health care facility in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, which will include a 40-bed hospital and other amenities such as theater, horticulture, vocational therapy, and arts and crafts shops
Patch Adams is a member of Physicians

💰Patch Adams Net worth: $8 Million

Some Patch Adams images

Famous Quotes:

The terrible news of the passing of Robin Williams reached me here in the Peruvian Amazon late Monday night with tremendous sadness. Surrounded by over 100 friends and clowns on our annual clown trip, we mourn this tragic loss and continue to treasure his comic genius. Robin Williams was a wonderful, kind and generous man. One important thing I remember about his personality is that he was unassuming—he never acted as if he was powerful or famous. Instead, he was always tender and welcoming, willing to help others with a smile or a joke. Robin was a brilliant comedian—there is no doubt. He was a compassionate, caring human being. While watching him work on the set of the film based on my life—Patch Adams–I saw that whenever there was a stressful moment, Robin would tap into his improvisation style to lighten the mood of cast and crew. Also, I would like to point out, Robin would be especially kind toward my children when they would visit the set. Contrary to how many people may view him, he actually seemed to me to be an introvert. When he invited me and my family into his home, he valued peace and quiet, a chance to breathe—a chance to get away from the fame that his talent has brought him. While early in life, he turned to drug use and alcohol to escape, he replaced the addiction with moments of solitude to help cope with the stress that fame brought. This world is not kind to people who become famous, and the fame he had garnered was a nightmare. While saddened, we are left with the consequences of his death. I'm enormously grateful for his wonderful performance of my early life, which has allowed the Gesundheit Institute to continue and expand our work. We extend our blessings to his family and friends in this moment of sadness. Thank you for all you've given this world Robin, thank you my friend.

Biography/Timeline

1963

After graduating in 1963 from Wakefield High School, Adams completed pre-med coursework at George Washington University. He began medical school without an undergraduate degree, and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at Virginia Commonwealth University (Medical College of Virginia) in 1971. In the late 1960s one of his closest friends (a man, not a woman as depicted in the Patch Adams film) was murdered. Convinced of the powerful connection between environment and wellness, he believes the health of an individual cannot be separated from the health of the family, community, and the world. While working in an adolescent clinic at MCV, in his final year of med school, he met Linda Edquist, a fellow VCU student who volunteered in the clinic.

1971

Soon after graduation, Patch, Linda, and friends founded the Gesundheit! Institute (originally known to many as the Zanies), which ran as a free community hospital from 1971 to 1983.

1975

Adams and Edquist married in 1975 and had two sons, Atomic Zagnut "Zag" Adams and Lars Zig Edquist Adams; they divorced in 1998.

1990

Since the 1990s Adams has supported the Ithaca Health Alliance (IHA), founded as the Ithaca Health Fund (IHF) by Paul Glover. In January 2006 IHA launched the Ithaca Free Clinic, bringing to life key aspects of Adams' vision. Adams has also given strong praise to Health Democracy, Glover's book written and published the same year.

1997

Adams was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award on January 29, 1997.

1998

The 1998 film Patch Adams was based on Adams' life and 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. Patch Adams also said of Robin 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. 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."

2003

The 2003 Bollywood film Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. was inspired by the movie 'Patch Adams' based on Hunter Doherty's life and his unconventional methods of treating patients. The film brought his methods to the forefront in India and Pakistan where conventional methods were predominant.

2007

In October 2007, Adams and the Gesundheit Board unveiled its campaign to raise $1 million towards building a Teaching Center and Clinic on its land in West Virginia. The Center and Clinic will enable Gesundheit to see patients and teach health care design.

2008

In 2008, Adams agreed to become honorary chair of the "International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment" or IAACM. In a number of his speeches and essays, Martin Luther King, Jr., had called for such an IAACM, but none was ever created. MindFreedom International, a nonprofit coalition that Gesundheit! belongs to as a sponsor group, launched the IAACM to support "creative maladjustment" and social change.