An aquatic wellness center that will be unique not only to Gilmer County, but maybe to the entire country, will soon be built in East Ellijay.
Dr. William Raisig described the aquatic center’s purpose during a May 10 groundbreaking event for the new facility, which will be part of his Raisig Clinic and Wellness Center.
“I realized early on that it was very difficult for patients to get control of their high blood pressure, arthritis and the list (of conditions) goes on. I would recommend weight loss, exercise and healthy eating, but it was difficult to get that accomplished,” Raisig said. “I got rid of the hurdle by starting the wellness clinic and having people work out in the clinic with us. It’s been very successful so far, (but) I knew I needed to do a little more for this community. I’m excited to do this for the community.”
The aquatic center will offer water-based forms of therapeutic exercise for patients and nonpatients of the clinic, which already includes a variety of cardio workout equipment and weight machines. Raisig said the goal of the entire practice is to find, prevent and reverse cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.
“It’s a hybrid clinic, and the clinic occupies the same space as the wellness center. It’s not on a different floor or in a different space. It’s right here,” he added. “Instead of patients being treated with medication and pharmaceuticals, they’re actually treated with wellness.”
The aquatic center will include a 30×50-foot heated saltwater swimming pool. A section of the pool will include such underwater workout equipment as treadmills, Raisig said.
“That will benefit people with (conditions like) back pain and arthritis. Aquatic therapy would work even stronger for people to get rid of their blood pressure, weight and arthritis issues, (as well as) decrease medication use and basically just get people healthier,” he added. “People can (also) graduate from physical therapy to us to continue their therapy. We’re an adjunct to physical therapy, as opposed to being the primary physical therapy.”
Raisig began practicing medicine in Gilmer County in 2004. He moved his practice from a house on Call Wright Road to the newly built clinic near the Highlands shopping area in 2018, but progression of the wellness center was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We felt it would be more dangerous for patients to be working out in the middle of a pandemic, so we had to hold back,” Raisig said. “Once the pandemic numbers dropped and it was more secure for patients and the community to exercise in one location, we opened up the wellness center.”
Raisig hopes construction of the aquatic center will be done fairly quickly. It should start within the next 30 days, and may be finished in three to four months, he noted.
“This (type of facility) doesn’t exist as far as I know anywhere else in the U.S. It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t exist, but we’re excited to do it first in Gilmer County” said Raisig.