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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Dr. Patch Adams will speak tonight at local fund event
Merdes-Judd's Guatemala clinic may get up to $40,000
By Jeremy Schwartz
Caller-Times
Tickets
For ticket information, call Yolanda Gonzales at 881-9142.
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When Dr. Patch Adams, whose humorous approach to healing was memorialized by Hollywood in 1998, heard the story of Clinica Corpus Christi, he sent founder Sara Merdes-Judd a letter encouraging her to keep up the good work.
Founded 18 years ago in the hardscrabble Guatemalan village of Patzun, the clinic is the only full-service hospital for the area's 48,000 residents.
Merdes-Judd, a 79-year-old food demonstrator at Sam's Club, built the clinic up using private donations and convincing dozens of local doctors to fly to Patzun to perform free medical work.
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Adams
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One night after dinner, Merdes-Judd and a group of Clinica supporters decided to ask Adams for his help.
Adams will speak at the Omni Bayfront Hotel today at a 6 p.m. fund-raiser for the clinic that is expected to raise up to $40,000.
Better facilities
"It's just miraculous," Merdes-Judd said. "It's so important. We have so much violence going on, people are sick and hurting ... now (the residents of Patzun) will have better facilities over there."
Adams became a part of the nation's collective psyche after Robin Williams portrayed him in the 1998 blockbuster film "Patch Adams," which showed his fight to incorporate humor and joy into medicine as he struggled to graduate medical school, often dressed as a clown.
After graduating, Adams founded the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia, envisioned as a holistic medical community based on the motto that healing should be a "loving human interchange, not a business transaction."
He spends most of his time on a whirlwind speaking tour, raising money for a permanent home for the institute, which is planned to include a 40-bed hospital, a theater, vegetable gardens and an orchard.
Danny Kollaja, a local clown who has visited Patzun to cheer up patients and accompanied Adams on international clowning tours, helped bring Adams and the Clinica together.
"He always wants to go to areas that need a little bit of lightening up and laughter," he said. "He's a great cheerleader for the human spirit."
Speaking fee
The Corpus Christi Medical Center, which recently donated $100,000 in used medical equipment to the clinic, is picking up the tab for Adams' speaking fee.
All but a handful of the available 750 seats have been purchased, most by area companies purchasing tables of 10 for $5,000, $3,000 or $1,000.
Individual seats are $50.
Guests will hear what is expected to be a 90-minute, interactive speech by Adams and enjoy a traditional Guatemalan dinner, complete with corn tortillas and chicken and rice.
"I've been told he moves around a lot," said Carolyn Conoly, media and public relations coordinator for the Corpus Christi Medical Center. "It's not just five or 10 minutes behind a podium. He gets fired up."
Contact Jeremy Schwartz at 886-3618 or schwartzj@caller.com
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© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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