Projects

The Gesundheit! Hospital Project

The Gesundheit! Institute started in the 1970s with a pilot project that is described in Gesundheit! by Patch Adams, M.D., and was the basis for a motion picture. The Gesundheit Hospital is a proposal for a model health care system aimed at changing society: a forty-bed rural community hospital in West Virginia, where care is free and is based on compassion and friendship.

Read Patch's introduction to the Hospital Project.

Humanitarian Clown Trips

Humanitarian clowning has always been an important part of realizing the Gesundheit! Institute's vision of care and is the core of its international service, Gesundheit Global Outreach (GGO). Formed in 2006, GGO encompasses clowning missions, humanitarian aid, building projects and community development around the world. The international service work of GGO complements Gesundheit's functions on the land in West Virginia (building the model hospital, local community service, education), and Gesundheit's health care design and education outreach (lectures, workshops, intensives). The goal of Gesundheit Global Outreach is the improvement of health of individuals and communities in crisis from sickness, war, poverty and injustice.

Read more about Gesundheit Global Outreach, past and upcoming clown trips, and how you can get involved. Read about the Belén Project, an ongoing large-scale Gesundheit Global Outreach project in Peru.

Lectures and Workshops

Today the Gesundheit message is spread by Dr. Patch Adams, as well as other Gesundheit speakers, in lectures and workshops offered all over the world. You can book a Gesundheit speaker to come to your area, search out a special event, for a one-in-the-world kind of experience!

You can read about Patch's speaking topics, upcoming events, and other Gesundheit speakers here.

Education

Every year, the Gesundheit! Institute hosts in-depth educational events associated with its mission, including a 5-day Health Care System Design Intensive, the 4-week John M Stang Elective for Medical Students; and a summer session of the School for Designing a Society.

Read more about Gesundheit!-related educational opportunities here.

On The Land

The future site for the Gesundheit Hospital and Phase One is currently home to a small community of our dear friends who act as ambassadors of Gesundheit, in West Virginia. Read more.