|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Mickelson Arthritis and Rehabilitation Pool has reopened its doors in San Mateo following extensive renovations by Sutter Health.
The warm-water therapy pool is designed specifically for therapeutic exercise. It is maintained at around 92 degrees and is available to seniors, disabled adults and children with a physician or provider letter. The facility is ADA-compliant, offering wheelchair access with a ramp leading into the water. It remains the only fully accessible, ADA-compliant warm-water facility in San Mateo County.
The pool initially closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, in March 2021, Sutter Health announced the facility would permanently close. However, a petition to save the pool quickly gained momentum following the closure announcement.
With the correspondence from Redwood City, every city and town in San Mateo County passed resolutions, issued proclamations or sent formal letters of support to Sutter Health.
Redwood City Council also added its voice to the fight to save the Mickelson Arthritis and Rehabilitation Center pool.
“Those that want/need a warm water therapy pool in the county have raised their voices at Redwood City council meetings. The council believes that the voices are sincere in their request,” wrote Redwood City Mayor Jeff Gee in a letter on behalf of the Redwood City council to Warner Thomas, CEO of Sutter Health.
In 2022, San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa requested that the state investigate Sutter Health’s use of federal stimulus funding. He wrote a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleging that the health care provider misused the $853 million federal funds it received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The act was passed near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was meant to keep vital medical resources open to the community.
Following the community efforts and renovations by Sutter, the Mickelson Center celebrated the pool’s grand reopening on Aug. 20.
The warm water is a resource for chronic pain management and post-surgery rehabilitation. According to the Center, aquatic therapy and exercise offer many benefits, including buoyancy, increased range of motion, reduced stiffness and pain, and reduced joint stress.
Information about hours of operation, membership costs and programs offered can be found here.
