Woodsville
The truck soon will be attached via tunnel canopy to a 600-foot building on Route 302 formerly occupied by Top of the Hill Ceramics. Goodwin, whose nonprofit’s moniker, H.A.T.S., is an acronym for Hydro Aquatic Therapy Studio, hopes to open the facility in mid-December and eventually use it as a mobile clinic at various North Country nursing homes, senior centers and hospitals.
Branded as the HydroWorx 300, the 3½-foot wide, 5-foot high aquatic treadmill uses warm water and hydrostatic pressure to aid rehabilitation exercises, a method of healing Goodwin has believed in since researching the topic years ago while working at Grafton County Nursing Home in North Haverhill.
“If you have, say, a painful knee or hip replacement surgery, it’s so much easier and faster to get back into everyday life with water therapy,” said Goodwin, 73, a Vietnam veteran and former granite industry business owner who also runs a for-profit fitness center elsewhere in Woodsville. “It’s cutting edge therapy that has been getting more and more popular, especially in Asia and Europe. It gives you four times the resistance of dry-land training, and the warm water helps your muscles and joints relax and heal.”
The tractor trailer, with aquatic treadmill, was purchased for $200,000 and the building for $75,000, Goodwin said, thanks to “angel investors,” whom he said fronted the funding in the form of private loans. Goodwin said he also received grant funding to add amenities to the building such as showers and changing rooms, and he hopes the facility’s doors will open sometime in December.
Originally, Goodwin developed a three-phase project that started with a facility containing several pools, hydro massage beds and spa rooms.
Like so many start-up nonprofit initiatives, he found fundraising a challenge.
“I realized I had to scale back and do a pilot project, something visible and tangible that people could see and get behind,” Goodwin said. “I kind of learned that a lot of (donors) want to see an organization develop some history before they make major contributions.”
While Goodwin eventually hopes H.A.T.S. will help provide indoor swimming and aquatic therapy outlets to everyone, he’s opening the facility at first to people over the age of 70 on fixed incomes.
At a rate of $35 for a 15-minute session, Goodwin said Medicare should cover the expense for anyone accompanied by a licensed physical therapist. Goodwin is not one — yet — so he expects most patrons to use the aquatic treadmill as part of a prescribed program with therapeutic professionals.
That’s where the machine’s portability comes in. While no outings yet have been scheduled, Goodwin has discussed bringing the unit to local facilities such as Grafton County Nursing Home and Horse Meadow Senior Center, both in North Haverhill, or to the physical therapy unit at Cottage Hospital in Woodsville. Goodwin also has spoken with institutions in Plymouth, N.H., Newport, Vt., and Glover, Vt., about visiting with the mobile unit, he said.
“There is definitely a need and a lot of interest,” Goodwin said. “Once we get (the Woodsville facility) up and running, I think we’re going to get a lot more interest. It’s one of those things where you find out a lot more once you get started.”
Todd Cooper, a Landaff, N.H., resident who recently joined H.A.T.S.’ five-member board of directors, said he believes strongly in the potential of the unit.
“The great thing about this is the versatility,” said Cooper, 68. “We’ll be able to be at the VA Hospital one day and a nursing home the next. To me, that’s invaluable.”
As for the aquatic therapy itself, Copper feels it’s an important pain management alternative. “In this day and age of an opioid crisis, I believe we have a civic responsibility to explore alternatives to strong drugs when it comes to treating chronic aches and pains,” said Cooper, a senior sales representative at a Wells River auto dealership. “We’ve got to find ways to heal without powerful chemicals.”
Wanda Sawyer, activities and volunteer coordinator at Horse Meadow Senior Center, said she spoke with Goodwin several years ago about the prospect of patrons there utilizing hydro therapy.
Some of the Horse Meadow’s regulars currently travel to Lisbon, about 15 miles north of Woodsville, for an aquatic exercise program in an indoor pool facility there.
“They have classes in a warm pool there that help with things like arthritis, from what I’ve been told,” Sawyer said. “They’ve said they’ve enjoyed it. If (H.A.T.S.) is something that would be affordable for people, it’s something we’d possibly look into.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.