Located in a low-income Philadelphia
neighborhood, this clinic will provide community-based health
care that is genuinely non-profit, preventive, humane and
fun. It is a refuge for doctors and nurses who want time to
heal patients. It is a refuge for patients who want to be
treated with dignity.For a small annual fee, members will own this clinic, gaining diagnosis and referral, dentistry, chronic and urgent care, counseling, pediatrics, birthing, hospicare, massage, family planning, chiropractic, acupuncture, and other therapies.
More than a health facility, the clinic is an economic development model which solves several urban problems. Existing medical facilities are overcrowded and underfunded. Suffering is untended, both mental and physical. Infectious disease rates are high. 200,000 are un-insured here. Unemployment and resultant crime are high.
The Patch Adams Free Clinic therefore offers healing, learning, play, food and work. Designed and decorated whimsically in the spirit of Dr. Patch Adams, our clinic reminds that true healing touches the soul. Permission to establish this clinic has been given by Patch Adams and the Gesundheit! Institute, according to standards below.
The facility will contain meeting rooms, quiet rooms, cafeteria (local foods), musical instruments, art materials, clown costumes and health library.
These spaces face a central circular atrium featuring plants, mosaic paths, and acoustic concerts. The waiting areas offer ergonomic chairs, cushions, cots, playpen, board games and health literature.
Because clean air and clean water are foundations of personal health, this building will exemplify green technologies. Building materials are regional, recycled, hypoallergenic. The entire single-story building will be passive solar and earth sheltered to reduce heating and cooling costs.
The green roof mound features walking paths with wheelchair access to the peak, an edible labyrinth, berry bushes, amphitheatre, picnicking and playground.
Because meaningful jobs are fundamental to self-esteem and public safety, green jobs training will be available.
--Paul Glover
INDEX
This page is a collection of working papers. The public website requires professional design and content management.
Its purpose will be to introduce, inspire, enroll (members, healers, volunteers, donors, discounts, MediCash), link (to each other,
to broader community, to media, and to national movement).
CLINIC FUNCTIONS
FLOOR PLANS
BENEFITS OF MEMBER OWNERSHIP
MEMBERSHIP
TRAINING
NEED STATEMENT
CONSTRUCTION
BUILDING MATERIALS
PERMITS
LEGAL
LABOR
PAY
BENEFITS TO CITY
BROADER AIMS
FINANCING
CREDIBILITY
CONTRACT WITH PATCH ADAMS
CORE VALUES
CORE FUNCTIONS
CORE FACILITY
BYLAWS
HOW YOU CAN HELP
COMMITTEES
CREDIBILITY
NETWORKING
CONTACT
LINKS
FUNCTIONS
MAIN FLOOR:
Healing
diagnostic
palliative
referral
minor surgery
urgicare
overnight observation
hospice
dental
preventive counseling
prenatal
birthing pool
watsu pool
whirlpool
neonatal
massage “rub room”
acupuncture
shiatsu
physical therapy
chiropractic
herbal
skin care
mental health: group therapy
smoking quit
remote area medical
health fairs
job counseling: green
education and training
medical library with computer stations
meeting rooms
classrooms
board games in waiting area
music studios
art studios
concerts in atrium: acoustic
cafeteria: onsite and regional food
food processing
retail shop: local goods only
volunteer lounge
Decoration and Whimsey
plants
banners
mobiles
waterfall in atrium: solar pump
large puppets
kinetic sculpture
art by local artists
clowns and acrobats
RUGS shaped like giant tongues, ears, feet, etc.
THEATRE of Healing: COSTUMES for people dressed like giant hypodermic needle, tooth, eyeball, ear, intestine, nose, foot, mouth, heart, lungs, brain, cochlea, etc.
KALEIDOSCOPE mounted
SNAKE SLIDE
FUNHOUSE MIRROR
MOSAIC intestines, spine, etc.
STATUARY
SOFT SCULPTURE CUSHIONS
WHIRLIGIGS & WIND CHIMES
MOBILES
ORCHID ROOM, aeromatic
MAGIC ACTS
PUPPET SHOWS
COLORFUL BIRDHOUSES, BAT HOUSES
FRUIT SALAD TREES
SHOUT ROOM
LAUGH ROOM
OCTOBIKE
PLAYPUMP to raise filtered water from basement tanks
MEDALS FOR VOLUNTEERS
MUSICIANS (acoustic) & CHOIRS
OFFICE
membership
donations
time banking
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS HOUSED WITHIN
PhilaHealthia
MediCash
Time Dollars
GLAD
Green
Jobs Philly
NESTS
FORCS
PRAISE & PhilaFEL
BASEMENT:
geothermal
toilet containers
vermiculture
storage
water tanks
generators
spiral staircase
dumbwaiter
shout room
Storage
tools
food
medical supplies
dental supplies
linens
musical instruments
art materials
costumes: clown
ROOFTOP
water catchment on and around dome
mosaic walking paths
picnicking
benches
bike path
orchard
garden
apiary
SURROUNDS
basketball court
tennis court
soccer field
bike shelter
spyramid
orchard and farm (vegetables/herbs)
windmills and whirligigs
pageant fields and tents
Recirculous & Remote Area Medical
amphitheatre
Ownership gives power. Members decide what services are available. We control prices.
We set examples for government to follow. We prove there are practical alternatives to corporate domination of health.
Ownership makes our lives more secure. When government gives it to us, government can take it away.
Ownership gives dignity. Our fellow citizens are more willing to respect, volunteer and fund those who help themselves.
Poor health care for poor Philadelphians gets poorer. Federal, state and local subsidy for Philadelphia's 200,000 un-insured declines as need increases. Our State's Medicaid waiting list is 350,000. Our City's ten free clinics are understaffed and underfunded, with three-month waiting lists. Medical centers are closing. Emergency room diversions are more frequent. Ambulance response time drags.
Families who choose between heating and eating become ill and contagious. Food pantries run short. 60,000 children here are chronically hungry. Gas shut-off rates are increasing.
An estimated 450 Philadelphians die yearly from lack of health insurance. These Philadelphians, and millions of Americans, cannot wait for the success of a century-old campaign for universal coverage. To survive, they need to take control. They need to build and manage their health system. They need to own rather than depend.
The Patch Adams Free Clinic is reviving the American traditions of mutual aid.
Adult members pay $300/YEAR. Children (under 18) become members for $150/YEAR). Members can pay partly with dollars (minimum $100), then work off $200 of their member fees at $12/hour.
Total: $100 + 17 hours/year.
They can work in the clinic (see list).
They can work in the community (see list).
They must complete full payment/work before renewing membership.
Members who work in the clinic more than the minimum hours needed, or pay more than the base member fee, may get labor credits (Time Dollars), barter credits, MediCash, or gift certificates as available.
Non-members may work on behalf of members.
Members paid-in-full are entitled to ALL SERVICES and VOTE, to serve on the BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Casual visitors are invited to donate. Their donations may apply toward membership.
TRAINING
Home Care
massage (shiatsu)
bed care
medication
nutrition
cooking
neonatal/infant
child care
hairdressing
parenting
preventive
yoga
Staff
typing
computer
bookkeeping
literacy
filing
Job Counseling
green skills
connections
resume
networking
interviewing
dreams come true
Gardening
preparing ground
soil making
mulching, watering
preserving
edible landscaping
Orchardry
planting
pruning
preserving
Clowning
face painting
juggling
balloons
puppetry
Arts
interior design
neighborhood design
painting
face painting
drawing
sculpture
ceramics
crafts
Music
instruments
singing
Networkers
medical discounts
MediCash
volunteers
grantmaking
NESTS
Tour Guide
Public Relations
Media Outreach
public speaking
Other
welcome
child care
Volunteers should teach visitors how to do therapy for self,
family and neighbors.
OFFSITE
NEIGHBORHOOD
BUSINESS SERVICES
REQUIRED
Repair
appliances
fabrics
tools
Laundry
Plumbing
Carpentry
Electric
BUILDING MATERIALS
Attributes
recycled
hypoallergenic
fireproof
regional sources
SBN businesses
cement
bricks
moisture barrier
2x2
2x4
2x6
4x4
plywood
acoustic damping
piping (non-PVC)
Plexiglas dome with 1’ aerogel
solar lighting tubes
solar hot water
solar electric
fiberglass for toilets
rugs (natural fibers)
chairs (ergonomic, kneeler)
cots
beds (futon)
glazing
bottles for bottle walls
tile fragments for mosaics
medical equipment
washing machine (Energy Star) or outsource
clean fill for orchard and garden
dwarf fruit trees
berry bushes
seeds
permeable paving
rubber sidewalks
inverters
generators: backup
geothermal
water filters
LEGAL
LAND TRUST and/or CONSERVANCY
501(c)3
articles
bylaws
liability insurance
board and
volunteers
facility:
permits
CONSTRUCTION
PERMITS
FINANCING
WEBSITE
BENEFITS TO CITY AND ITS ECONOMY
BROADER AIMS
NETWORKING
CREDIBILITY
CONTRACT WITH PATCH ADAMS
MEMBER-OWNED:
Members may vote for the clinic’s board
of directors and serve on its committees. bylaws
CORE VALUES
CORE FUNCTIONS
BYLAWS
CORE FACILITY
DONATE: TAX-DEDUCTIBLE: Community Health Collaborative, 431 West Walnut Lane, Philadelphia PA 19144
Core fireproof structure is transit-oriented single-story underground
oblong octagon, with basement.
LABOR
Contractor is Philadelphia minority-owned.
Half of paid workers from immediate and contiguous census tracts.
All paid workers from Philadelphia.
Maximum reliance on community build.
Liability insurance.
PAY
Many good things cannot happen, for lack of dollars. So we
organize labor to meet needs with least dependence on dollars.
• MediCash
• MediBarter
• Time Dollars
• Equal Dollars
• HOURS
• barter
• sweat equity
--land
--college
tuition credits
• gift certificates
• transit passes
• maximum wage: twice sustainable
Councilmember will be needed to facilitate land transfer, permits,
grants, variances. We will present this plan to Council members whose districts include lowest-income neighborhoods.
We’ll seek signed agreement with the council member offering best assurances.
Expenses are kept low by by relying
least on dollars. To the maximum possible we rely on the gift
economy, barter, and alternate credit systems (Time Dollars, LETS,
HOURS, MediCash, etc.)
1. Staff are primarily
volunteers: professionals, students, religious congregants, neighbors,
members. Membership fees may be paid half with labor to
maintain the facility and its grounds. Both volunteers and
staff may be rewarded with Philadelphia MediCash, gift
certificates, health care, sweat equity credits, college course credit
and scholarships. Barter agreements meet
many personal needs. Administrative pay is maximum twice the
livable wage.
2. Constructed extensively of
recycled materials bartered and donated.
3. Equipped with donated
supplies.
4. Fueled primarily
by energy efficiency
IN-KIND DONATIONS
materials
equipment
labor
GRANTS
federal, state , local (foundation, angels). Donors may
receive certificates, plaque, etc as per Philadelphia Orchard Project.
Keywords:
health
community health
public health
clinic
free clinic
dental
preventive care
prenatal care
diabetes
nutrition
urban agriculture
urban gardening
apiculture
permaculture
green jobs
job training
community arts
music
MediCash BACKING
medical centers
healers
businesses
individuals
businesses
government
Time Dollars
exchange rates
Equal Dollars
exchange rates
Vision
images
text
endorsements
meetings
listserve
newsletter
enroll members, volunteers, discounts, donors
• Diversions from Emergency Rooms
• Decreased tax burden for city clinics
• Increased sales taxes through increased household
discretionary spending not lost to medical costs
• Stabilized property values
• Stimulation of neighborhood investment and business development
• Reduced high school dropout rate through increased interest in
learning
• Increased sales taxes from medical tourism and greater media
attention to Philadelphia
• Greater competitive advantage for medical conventions
through side trip
• Trains workers for green jobs
• Increased worker productivity through reduced sick time
• Reduced public health costs through reduced contageon risks
• Reduced air conditioning costs through urban heat
island abatement
• Reduced city carbon footprint
• Reduced rainwater runoff to storm sewers, reduced sewage to
rivers
• Expanded reliance on transit
• We intend this clinic to become a medical center with overnight beds and surgeries.
• We intend to establish a nonprofit medical college that generates hundreds of competent caring doctors, dedicated foremost to serving humanity.
• We intend to democratize health care by training ourselves to heal one another.
• We intend to democratize health finance by self-insuring and by creating our own credit systems.
Medicare for All can be kept affordable, democratic and honest when based on a national network of local and regional member-owned co-op plans that self-insure for simple emergencies,
and that pool surplus to start free clinics for preventive care.
• We intend to stimulate the local economy through reducing the costs of healing. This clinic will restrain gentrification by prompting equitable development and land trusts.
• We intend to facilitate rebuilding of Philadelphia toward balance with nature. The public foundations of personal health are clean food, clean water and clean air.
• Our free clinic will be likewise a freedom clinic.
DONATIONS
Construction materials
Medical and Dental equipment
Solar equipment
land
dollars
discounts
gift certificates
furnishings
tapestry, quilts
decorations
statuary and art
lab exams
VOLUNTEERS
heal visitors:
doctors
nurses
aides
dentists
massage
chiropractic
acupuncture
reiki,
cranio sacral
greet visitors
clowns
musicians
artists
instructors
mentors
recreation
office:
budget
and accounting
board of
directors minutes
library
files
MediCash
PhilaHealthia
Time
Dollars
clean
repair
decorate
gardeners and orchardists
architect
outreach: public relations, media
grantwriting
NETWORKERS
(stimulate involvement):
donations: in-kind
volunteers:
students, members,
community service,
neighbors, NESTS
MediCash,
PhilaFEL, PRAISE
COORDINATORS
(manage involvement)
same
categories as networking
PERMITS
building
variances
Dept of Health, 28Pa Code
PWD
BUDGET
building
construction
equipment
staff
images
narrative
Patch and Gesundheit!
501c3
website
testimonials
press release: seeking volunteers, members
video of proposal, then video of reality
medical centers
MediCash
discounts
barter
Health Dept
doctors
healers
hospitals
foundations
celebrities
City Hall
state
federal
This free clinic in Patch Adams’ name will meet general and explicit
standards for spirit and practice approved by Patch Adams and the board
of the Gesundheit! Institute.
The clinic may affiliate with co-operative health plans
meeting health co-op standards and may
enroll Pennsylvanians as members into this plan.
For example, pioneer members (paying $100/year)
may be eligible for $500 consolation grant for broken bones. They could use
it to pay healers or get massage, PT, etc. As the general fund
increases, this fund may pay more for broken bones, then expand into more categories.
Members receive discounts with
Philadelphia area healers and medical centers, discounts for Patch
Adams tours, discounts with local bike shops, dentists, health food
stores, etc.
WHIMSICAL: Pleasant surprises, clowns, furniture foolery.
COLORFUL: Cheerful tie dye
RESPECTFUL: We tend visitors, not clients. We treat them as
equals. Healing requires Love and Time. Hugs are offered as suited.
EMPOWERING: Preventive and Palliative care are provided and taught:
home remedies, birth control, massage, acupuncture, acupressure,
cranial sacral, nutrition, first aid.
CREATIVE: Art, music, dance, singing and clowning are understood as
integral to healing.
MODALITIES: All licensed or certified healing modalities would be welcome.
RELATED SERVICES: The clinic will conjoin with related neighborhood
functions such as green job center, library, child care, cannery for
orchard and farm produce, community credits, community meetings.
VOLUNTEER HEALING STAFF: Healers would volunteer as in
Ithaca. Eventually we’d hire a nurse clinician.
Principal volunteer staff would be invited to train at the Gesundheit! Institute in West Virginia
MAXIMUM WAGE: Any paid administrative staff would receive wages not
more than twice Philadelphia's regional "sustainable" wage.
CO-SPONSORS: We seek donations of building, renovation,
equipment. We seek donations of building, renovation,
equipment. The free clinic will not endorse any
pharmaceutical company and will reduce reliance on prescription drugs
to minima. Corporate sponsorship shall not reduce authority
of members, neighborhood small businesses, regional medical centers,
and neighbors directly.
• Member-owned (elected board with public meetings) with right to
referendum and committee participation..
• Elected board at least 50% from neighborhood; 25% volunteers, 25%
other Philadelphians.
• Maximum wage and maximum employed staff: twice livable wage
• Tax-exempt, land trust and/or conservancy
• Financed maximally by gift, barter, sweat equity and alternate credits.
• Stimulate equitable development
• Healing soul as well as body, with laughter, fun, revolutionary spirit. Humane service (Love and Time), playful as appropriate.
• Always member-driven rather than staff driven. Maximum wage for any employee is twice livable wage.
• Maximum reliance on member labor and volunteer labor.
• Community credits are welcome (MediCash, Equal Dollars, neighborhood currencies, HOURS, Time Dollars, barter, sweat equity).
• Low-overhead (donated and second hand equipment, recycled building materials).
• Cooperative health financing lowers member fees. Sweat equity accepted for part payment.
• Endorsement of a national health plan (MediCare for All) which is democratic, transparent, affordable.
• Endorsement of local and regional co-op health financing plans which meet standards at http://healthdemocracy.org/legislation.html
• Public meetings announced in advance. Minutes posted on Clinic website.
• Preventive, diagnostic, palliative and referral health services via
both conventional and holistic therapies.
• Minor medical community-rated health plan regulated according to healthdemocracy.org/legislation.html
• Family planning upon request.
• Learning center for apprenticeships, internships, NESTS.
• Neighborhood-serving green job and green business development.
BYLAWS
• Earth-sheltered passive solar (incl. hot water). Maximum natural light via atria, suntubes, skylights. Solar
electric, pedal power. Nontoxic operation and maintenance, waterless toilets, transit-oriented location.
• Orchards and farming on and around roof.
• No bottled water; no sodas containing high fructose corn syrup.
• Waterless toilets.
• Priority office space for accessory functions such as green
job development, microfinance, community credits, dental, optical.
• Restaurant soup kitchen (pay what you like) relying extensively on local foods.
PAYPAL:
VOLUNTEERS
o medical
o holistic
o farm
o board
o office & members
o interns
MEMBERS
o communication: newsletters, events
o elections
o grants
REWARDS
o barter
o MediCash, Time Dollars, HOURS
o discounts, gift certificates
o sweat equity: land, college credit, etc.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
o website: social networking
o slide show
o documentary
o speaking
o media
ENVIRONMENT
o clean water
o clean food
o clean air
o building
o transit
FINANCE
o grants: foundation, private, government
o donations: web etc.
o barter
LEGAL
o incorporation: articles/bylaws
o land trust and land purchase
o permits
EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES
o medical, dental, optical, restaurant, office
CONSTRUCTION
RETURN TO INDEX
(215) 805-8330 • paul5glover@yahoo.com
INTERIM BOARD MEMBERS
• Rashida Ali-Campbell
• Paul Glover
• Elizabeth Pearson
ADVISORY BOARD
• Dr. David Bresler, DDS, owner of CavityBusters
• Mary Seton Conboy, founder and director of GreensGrow Farm
• Liz Robinson, Executive Director of Energy Coordinating Agency
• Dr. Walter Tsou, past President of the American Public Health Association
• Judy Wicks, founder of White Dog Café, author, social entrepreneur
• Patch Adams & Gesundheit! Institute
• Patch speaks
• The Real Patch Adams" documentary
• Health Democracy: Liberating Americans from Health Insurance
• A Crime Not a Crisis: Why Pennsylvania Health Insurance Costs So Much
• medical clowning
• Tommy the Clown
• Physicians for a National Health Plan
• Thanks to Augustine Chang for banner at top of page: Games2Learn Chinese