A UNIQUE HEALER: 'PATCH' ADAMS CALLS

Clown. Farmer. But, above all, physician.

Those are the faces of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who brought his vision for health care to Cape Girardeau Monday. His is a personalized approach to medicine and a means for people to improve their quality of life through love, humor and relaxation.

Adams, who is working to build a 40-bed hospital and healing center in rural West Virginia, is an unusual physician as demonstrated in the 1998 movie "Patch Adams" starring Robin Williams. The movie was based on the life of Adams, who was inspired to become a doctor while institutionalized for depression as a teen-ager.

"At one time I wanted to die," Adams said of his young life. "But I made two decisions that have resulted in me being here tonight: I was a science nerd and decided to become a physician. And I said I would never have another bad day."

Adams told about 2,000 people at the Show Me Center that he had some bad days as a youngster after his father and a favorite uncle died.

Adams entered medical school in 1967.

"As a nerd, I had a lot of time to myself, and I studied hard," said Adams.

When Adams graduated in the early 1970s, he and some friends moved into a 21-room house and called it a hospital. "We had a house full of people and we had patients," he said.

Over the next few years, the hospital treated more than 15,000 patients from 18 states free of charge, he said.

Adams' performance Monday was not the one he'd planned. Patch and his partner, Dr. Susan Parenti, were scheduled to team up for a vaudeville show with clowning, piano, tap dancing and other entertainment, but Parenti couldn't make it.

Solo performance

Going solo, Adams kept the crowd of all ages laughing with a number of comedy routines.

He was dressed for the clowning part with blue hair; tangerine shoes; bright, baggy trousers; and a large tie. "I'm a clown who is a doctor, not a a doctor who is a clown," Adams said.

Adams is planning to open his own hospital.

"We tried to get grants from 1,400 foundations during our early years," said Adams. "Nobody took us up on it. Our staff was paying to live in our place and practice medicine. I paid to be a doctor for 30 years."

It wasn't until the movie became a hit that money came in. "We're going to build our hospital now," said Adams.

The Gesundheit Institute will be a rural hospital in West Virginia. It will include a 30,000-square-foot theater. "It will be the first silly hospital in history. Fine arts is a focus for us," said Adams.

Adams, who spends about 280 days a year on the road to raise more funds, hopes to break ground in June.

His performance here was free but he sold his two books -- "Gesundheit! By Patch," and "House Calls: How We Can All Heal the World One Visit at a Time" -- and signed copies.

Adams spoke to health-care providers Monday morning in addition to the evening performance to the public.

"If you like people, if you like human interaction, medicine is enchanting," said Adams. "The ideal patient is an intimate friend for life. Maybe intimacy is what life is all about. I love people, and medicine is simply friend after friend after friend."