About Gesundheit

For 37 years, Gesundheit Institute (GI) has been an important voice in dialogues around health care delivery.

GI advocates for the care in health care. We design new models for health care, recognizing that giving care is a need, not a burden.

Patch Adams, whose book was the basis of the Hollywood movie “Patch Adams,” is the Executive Director of the Gesundheit Institute - a non-profit, tax exempt organization. GI has a Board of 8 medical professionals and a staff who runs its many programs.

Current GI programs include:

Education

Humanitarian Clowning

“During the 20 years, our clown healing work has expanded all over the world, so that clowns are now a regular part of hospitals on every continent.” – Patch Adams

Understanding that and injustice are medical issues, we have dispatched clowns to war torn areas and refugee camps, prisons, and nursing homes.

Clowning is a way to bring love close. GI is currently offering 8 clown trips a year in places damaged by structural violence. Clowning works on the idea of the bi-directionality of care: that as humans we both need to GET care, but we also need to GIVE care. Clowning allows people who are to learn how to bring love close with humor and play, and how to 'heal' in a non-technological setting.

Read about upcoming clown trips and letters from past trips.

International Clinic Building

GI is building clinics and schools, and aiding in infrastructure in these places where we've clowned. Along with the World Health Organization and Partners in Health, we consider structural violence and poverty 'medical problems'.

GI! has built orphanages in Russia, helped construct a school in Cambodia and built clinics in El Salvador. We are working on a large-scale sewage and water project in Peru.

Programs on the Land

In addition to preparing for the next phase of building, GI runs volunteer work sessions and programs on its land in West Virginia. Read more.