Healwell

What Healwell does

Healwell is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It provides hospital-based massage therapy services for patients affected by serious illness — including those in palliative care, oncology, and hospice settings — through partnerships with healthcare facilities in the DC metro area such as MedStar Health, Children's National Medical Center, and Goodwin Hospice. The organization operates with 11–50 employees and a team of specially-trained massage therapists who deliver services in clinical settings.

Healwell's product surface spans three pillars: direct patient massage therapy services in partner hospitals, an online education platform (online.healwell.org) offering hospital-based massage, oncology massage, and cultural competency courses for massage therapists and healthcare professionals, and a research publications portfolio. The research arm includes a 400-patient randomized clinical trial on massage therapy for palliative care patients (with MedStar, funded by Palmer Foundation), an 86-patient Latham-funded pilot, and studies on pediatric oncology massage — a peer-reviewed evidence base that is unusual for a nonprofit of its size.

Revenue is generated through donations, foundation grants (Palmer, Latham, Massage Therapy Foundation), and course/training fees. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: Healwell runs the Within Reach symposium, the monthly Interdisciplinary Clan of Mystery (ICM) webinar series, the Massage Therapy Without Borders podcast, and an Ambassador program mobilizing grassroots advocates. The organization has no proprietary technology platform and relies on standard operational tools (Jane App) and content channels (Substack, social media) for distribution.

Name

Healwell

Legal name

Healwell

Website

https://healwell.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Healwell is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2010 that provides hospital-based massage therapy for seriously ill patients, trains massage therapists through online courses, and publishes research on massage therapy efficacy in clinical settings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Therapeutic Massage and Nonprofit Healthcare Services

NAICS

Other Ambulatory Health Care Services (6219), Home Health Care Services (62161), Home Health Care Services (6216)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical/Therapeutic Massage (Rehab/Pain Management) (HSALAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hot Stone & Thermotherapy Massage (HSADAHAK), In-Home Hospice Nursing Visits (RN/LPN) (HSABAFAL), Hospice Care in Nursing Facilities (SNF/NH Hospice) (HLADAHAD), Massage Therapy & Bodywork (EDAOALAH)

Keywords

• Hospital-based massage therapy
• Oncology massage education
• Palliative care massage
• Clinical massage training
• Integrative healthcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Healwell operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The organization actively fundraises through its website, donor-advised funds, stock donations, qualified charitable distributions, bequests, and planned gifts.
2. Grant Funding: Healwell receives grant funding from foundations for research and program support. Notable funders include the Palmer Foundation, The Latham Foundation, and Massage Therapy Foundation.
3. Educational Courses and Training Fees: Healwell offers courses and trainings for massage therapists and healthcare professionals, including hospital-based massage therapy workshops, oncology massage training, and cultural competency courses. Revenue is generated through course fees.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Healwell provides hospital-based therapeutic massage services for patients living with serious, acute, or chronic illness through partnerships with hospitals, hospices, and palliative care programs in the DC metro area. The organization also delivers online and in-person continuing education courses training licensed massage therapists in oncology massage, hospital-based massage, and cultural competency, supported by peer-reviewed clinical research on massage therapy efficacy in serious illness care.

Product overview

Healwell is a nonprofit organization (a 501(c)(3) based in Arlington, VA) operating for 18 years that provides hospital-based massage therapy services, online education courses for massage therapists, research publications, consulting services, and an ambassador program. The organization focuses on integrating massage therapy into healthcare for patients with serious illness, offering oncology massage, hospital-based massage training, and palliative care massage services. Their core offerings include direct patient massage therapy in partner hospitals, professional education courses delivered online, research on massage therapy efficacy, a podcast series, and consulting services for healthcare facilities seeking to implement massage therapy programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hospital-Based Massage Therapy Services Therapeutic massage services delivered by specially-trained massage therapists to patients in hospital settings, including palliative care, oncology, and general serious illness care. Delivered through partnerships with healthcare facilities throughout the DC metro area.
• Online Courses for Massage Therapists Online educational courses for licensed massage therapists covering oncology massage workshops, hospital-based massage training programs, and cultural competency courses. Delivered via the online.healwell.org learning platform and providing continuing education for healthcare and massage professionals.
• Consulting Services Consulting services for healthcare facilities looking to integrate massage therapy into their care settings. Provides expertise in program development and implementation for hospitals, hospices, and palliative care programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Patients in palliative care settings benefit most from short, repeated doses of massage therapy in the hospital.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MedStar Health / MedStar Washington Hospital CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealwell partners with MedStar Health Research Institute and MedStar Washington Hospital Center on research studies including a 400-patient randomized clinical trial on massage therapy for palliative care patients, and a Latham-funded pilot study on massage therapy's effect on opioid use, pain, and anxiety.
• Children's National Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with Children's National Medical Center providing massage therapy to pediatric oncology patients in a feasibility study on the effect of massage therapy on sleep patterns in adolescent cancer patients.
• Goodwin HospicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoodwin Hospice is one of the only hospice programs in Northern Virginia to offer massage therapy at no additional cost. Healwell's hospice team works directly with Goodwin Hospice to deliver massage therapy services.
• Georgetown University School of MedicineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare partner and collaborator on research and education initiatives related to massage therapy in serious illness care.
• Johns Hopkins MedicineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare partner providing massage therapy services through the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center at Johns Hopkins Howard County.
• Capital CaringminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChildren's hospice partner providing massage therapy services to patients and families.
• ABMP (Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerABMP partners with Healwell on education, with 'Cultural Competency for Massage Therapists' course from Cal Cates and Kerry Jordan offered through ABMP's Education Center.
• C-TAC (Coalition to Transform Advanced Care)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealwell is a member of C-TAC (Coalition to Transform Advanced Care), participating in summits on improving lives through advanced care and advocating for massage therapy in serious illness care.
• Books of DiscoveryminorOthersEducational resource partner providing textbooks and learning materials for massage therapy education.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Society for Oncology Massage (S4OM): Nonprofit professional organization focused on training massage therapists in oncology massage, the same core specialty as Healwell's hospital-based and oncology massage programs; competes for continuing-education dollars from the same therapist audience.
• Massage Therapy Foundation: Charitable foundation that funds massage therapy research and provides CE; overlaps directly with Healwell's research-publication and grant-funded RCT work, including the $300K CHOP pediatric oncology grant.
• Touch Research Institute (University of Miami): Academic research institute studying touch/massage therapy across clinical populations; comparable research-output orientation and serves as both adjacent research community and indirect training influence for Healwell's evidence base.
• Capital Caring Health (now part of Chapters Health System): Regional hospice/palliative provider and Healwell direct partner delivering massage therapy to hospice patients; comparable end-of-life care population and overlapping clinical integration model.

Broad incumbents

• Penny George Institute for Health and Healing (Allina Health): Hospital-based integrative medicine program offering massage therapy to patients across a large health system; comparable to Healwell in mission (integrative care in clinical settings) but operates at much larger scale and system-owned.
• Osher Center for Integrative Medicine (Harvard / Vanderbilt / UCSF / Northwestern / Mayo): Network of academic integrative medicine centers that integrate massage therapy and research into care; comparable as research-driven hospital-affiliated integrative programs and a potential research/training partner.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Integrative Medicine Service: Hospital-based oncology integrative medicine program offering massage to cancer patients; comparable population (oncology/palliative) and similar clinical integration model, though system-owned rather than nonprofit-operated.
• National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB): National certification body for the massage profession that sets continuing-education standards Healwell's courses must align with; comparable as an industry-standard-setter in the same therapist training market.
• ABMP (Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals): Largest US massage professional association that partners with Healwell to deliver courses (e.g., Cultural Competency for Massage Therapists); comparable in serving the same therapist audience for CE and practice resources.

Regional players

• Life with Cancer (Inova Schar Cancer Institute): Northern Virginia oncology support program offering free oncology massage in partnership with Healwell; comparable service line (oncology massage for patients) within the same DC-metro region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@healwell
• Facebookfacebook.com/Healwell22203
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/healwell
• Instagraminstagram.com/healwell_org
• Xx.com/healwellnow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Healwell