The Skeptical Samurai’s Guide to the Movies: Patch Adams

Time for another instalment of…

The Skeptical Samurai’s Guide to the Movies!

This week’s movie: Patch Adams

Hunter “Patch” Adams is an American physician known for his alternative approach to “traditional” medicine. 

I know what you are thinking…did the Skeptical Samurai just endorse an “alternative medicine” healthcare practitioner!?  Fear not dear reader, as this is not the case.  Patch’s “alternative” approach to medicine is largely based in his use of humour and clowning in the clinical setting, as well as the concept of free + equal healthcare for all (a concept that many of us here in Canada, take for granted, as individuals living in other parts of the world, such as the USA, do not have access to free healthcare).

In 1998 a movie was made about Patch Adams (starting Robin Williams as Patch), titled…Patch Adams. 

According to Patch he had attempt to persuade the powers that be to name the film Gesundheit! (after his planned free hospital/clinic) but this idea was rejected for a variety of different reasons. 

I have read both of Patch’s books and had the absolute pleasure of meeting him in person at one of his conferences/seminars a number of years ago.  At this conference/seminar Patch discussed many different topics, including a short FAQ regarding the movie “Patch Adams”.  The information from that conference/seminar along with my own research serves as the “reality” some of the “movie fiction” put forth by the makers of the film. 

Movie: Patch, as an adult in his late 30’s to early 40’s, had a nervous breakdown and was contemplating suicide.   It was at this point that Patch checked himself into a psychiatric hospital for assessment and treatment.

Reality: Patch did in fact check himself into a psychiatric hospital, but he was actually around 17 when this happened.  At the conference/seminar I attended, Patch stated that Robin Williams was in his 40’s when he did the movie, so it was a bit difficult to reverse age Mr. Williams into a 17 year old.  Consequently, the writers of the movie simply changed the sequence of events so that Patch was in his late teens when he admitted himself to the psychiatric hospital.

Movie: Patch’s girlfriend (Corinne Fisher played by actress Monica Potter) was murdered by a psychiatric patient.

Reality: Where to start with this one!?

In reality, Corinne did not exist.  The character Corinne was loosely based on Patch’s 1^st wife Lynda, who Patch did meet while he was in medical school (the scene with the room full of balloons is based on a  real life date that Patch set up for himself and Lynda), but their relationship was quite different that that portrayed in the film.    

This situation of the psychiatric patient killing Patch’s girlfriend was actually based on a real event.  The main difference was that the person killed was Patch’s MALE best friend!  Patch briefly discussed this topic at the conference/seminar I attended, and mentioned that if his friend (sadly the name of Patch’s friend escapes me) was still alive he would have gotten quite a laugh out of the fact that his character had been “adapted” to film to be Patch’s female love interest!

Movie: Patch (real name, Hunter) was given the nickname “Patch” by a fellow patient at the psychiatric hospital that he befriends after patching his faulty coffee cup. 

Reality: Patch was in fact given this nickname by a fellow patient at the psychiatric hospital that he befriended.  However, Patch has explained that the scene did not play out as it did in the movie.  Patch was given the nickname the patient that he befriended felt that Patch “patched up” the loneliness in his life, hence the name Patch.    

Movie: At the end of the movie a message is displayed across the screen that implies that Patch’s Gesundheit! Institute/Hospital has already been finished, and is currently in full swing.

Reality: In reality the hospital is still under construction!  A more accurate version of the progress of the Gesundheit! Institute is as follows (taken from Patch Adams/The Gesundheit Institute Homepage):

Phase I: A Hospital as Home • 1971–1983

The Gesundheit Institute began as a group of twenty friends, including three doctors, who moved into a six-bedroom home and called it a free hospital. The hospital was open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for all manner of medical problems from birth to death. 500-1000 patients were seen each month, with 5-50 overnight guests a night. Though staff had to work outside jobs in order to support themselves and their families, for the first 9 years none of the staff left. Over its 12-year history, 15,000 patients were seen. These years provided a “proof of concept,” affirming the direction of building a full-scale, rural hospital to serve as a place of service and a model of care.

Phase II: Building on the Land • 1981–1998

As a future hospital site, Gesundheit purchased 321 acres in Pocahontas County, West Virginia with the help of donations. Infrastructure construction included building a 3-story woodshop, a domed “Dacha” for housing up to 8 staff members, a Chrysalis-shaped classroom, a lake, gardens, and farmhouse expansion.

Phase III: The Movie and Global Outreach • 1999–2008

In 1998, Universal Studios released the movie “Patch Adams” starring Robin Williams, based on Patch Adams’s book Gesundheit. At the end of the film, Universal Studios inserted the inaccurate statement that Gesundheit had already built its free hospital. While this false claim hindered Gesundheit’s ability to fundraise for the free hospital, the movie itself raised visibility and helped launch a decade of teaching and Global Outreach.

Phases IV and V: Building the Teaching Center and Clinic • 2007–2011

Dr. Patch Adams and members of the Gesundheit Institute have lectured at medical and nursing schools in over 65 countries and on five continents, reaching approximately 150,000 attendees per year. Over 1300 people per year participate in Gesundheit’s medical student electives, volunteer programs, alternative spring breaks, health care system design intensives, humanitarian clown trips, and health justice gatherings.

In July of 2007, The Gesundheit Board launched a campaign to build the Patch Adams Teaching Center and Clinic, which will teach health care design and provide a positive global model of health care delivery on our land in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

Frequently Asked Question After Watching the Movie: How much money did Robin Williams make for his portrayal of Patch Adams, and more importantly how much did he donate to Patch and the Gesundheit! Institute?

Reality: Robin Williams made approximately 21 million dollars for his portrayal of Patch Adams. 

Regarding the question of how much money Mr. Williams donated to the Gesundheit! Institute, Patch addressed this question at the conference/seminar I attended a number of years ago.  Patch stated that Mr. Williams did not contribute a single dollar to the Gesundheit! Institute or to Patch’s cause…

And to date (to the best of my knowledge/research), Mr. Williams has still not contributed a single dollar to Patch’s cause…

For more information about Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams, please visit his website:

http://www.patchadams.org/

This has been the Skeptical Samurai

Working to serve through the process of inquiry