| Type | not-for-profit healthcare |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| Founder(s) | Hunter "Patch" Adams |
| Headquarters | Hillsboro, West Virginia, United States |
| Services | integrative medicine |
| Website | www.patchadams.org |
The Gesundheit! Institute (German for 'health!') is a project founded by Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams in 1971, located outside of Hillsboro in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The Institute states its vision as being dedicated to revolutionizing health care delivery by replacing what the Institute sees as greed and competition with generosity and compassion. Creation of Gesundheit! Institute was a topic of the 1998 movie Patch Adams starring Robin Williams.[1]
The goal of the Institute is to integrate a traditional hospital with alternative medicine such as naturopathy, acupuncture, and homeopathy. Care combines integrative medicine with performing arts, crafts, nature, agriculture, and recreation. One of the continued missions of the Gesundheit! Institute involves the concept of "humanitarian clowning". The project uses the theme of laughter as an integral element of effective doctoral care. In the past, the Gesundheit! Institute has taken clowns into the war zones in Bosnia, refugee camps in the Republic of Macedonia, as well as South African orphanages.
In October 2007 Patch Adams and the Gesundheit Board unveiled their campaign to raise $1 million towards building a Teaching Center and Clinic on the Institute's land in West Virginia. The plan includes a 40-bed hospital that utilizes holistic healthcare, enabling Gesundheit to see patients in its own facility, while perfecting and sharing better healthcare design theories.[2][3]