Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center

Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center was a rehabilitation and special education facility in Greenfield, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1953, the center originally treated children with polio and other physical disabilities. Over the following decades, it expanded to include a school for the deaf, a residential school for students with complex disabilities, a specialty hospital for brain injuries, and adult residential programs.^[1][2]

The Crotched Mountain Foundation announced the closure of the Greenfield campus in June 2020, citing financial difficulties compounded by COVID-19.^[3] After a period under the management of Gersh Autism, the campus was acquired in November 2022 by Seven Hills Foundation, which operates it as Crotched Mountain School & Village.^[4] The Crotched Mountain Foundation continues to operate community-based disability services from Manchester, New Hampshire.^[5]

In 1936, Harry Gregg, a Nashua businessman, and Dr. Ezra A. Jones, described as New Hampshire's first orthopedic surgeon, co-founded the New Hampshire Society for Crippled Children.^[6] The organization, funded in part through the Easter Seals drive, advocated for expanded treatment programs for people with disabilities in the state. It later became Easterseals New Hampshire.^[6]

Gregg, the father of future New Hampshire Governor Hugh Gregg and grandfather of future U.S. Senator Judd Gregg,^[7] had operated a summer camp for underprivileged children from Nashua on the shore of Sunset Lake in Greenfield since the 1920s, known as the Nashua Fresh Air Camp.^[8] Through this experience, he became aware of a large parcel of level land on a shoulder of Crotched Mountain — the former Russell Dairy Farm. In the fall of 1942, the Society for Crippled Children authorized up to $7,500 for the purchase of the site; Gregg completed the acquisition for $6,230.07.^[8]

In February 1948, Gregg's son Harry Alan Gregg Jr. and his entire family perished in a house fire in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[9] Four months later, Gregg incorporated the Harry Alan Gregg Jr. Family Foundation as a memorial to his son and as a vehicle to fund the rehabilitation center. The foundation merged with Gregg's existing building-materials company, Hall-Gregg Incorporated, and directed its profits to the Society for Crippled Children; between 1948 and 1950, it distributed $100,000 to the Society.^[9]

Construction of a 40-bed facility began in 1950.^[8] Gregg consulted with rehabilitation experts including Dr. Howard A. Rusk of New York University Medical Center, who endorsed a rural, independent location rather than affiliation with an existing urban hospital.^[10] The first children were admitted in 1952, and the center formally opened in 1953.^[8][2]

The center initially treated children with polio, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and other physical and neurological disabilities.^[2] A school for the deaf operated from 1955 to the early 1970s, and a center for adult rehabilitation opened in 1961.^[8] At its operational peak, the facility employed approximately 800 people, operated a special education school with about 95 students, and ran a hospital with around 60 patients on a campus of approximately 200 acres.^[11][12] The campus included a school, hospital, outpatient clinic, aquatic center, residences, and an athletic complex, along with wheelchair-accessible trails described as among the longest in a mountainside environment in the United States.^[13] The Trust for Public Land worked with the State of New Hampshire to develop a conservation easement on the approximately 1,400-acre property.^[14]

A rehabilitation center for adults with brain injuries opened in the 1980s and grew into the Crotched Mountain Specialty Hospital, which provided neuro-rehabilitation and served patients with brain and spinal cord injuries, stroke, and other neurological conditions.^[15][13] The hospital was certified by Medicare and Medicaid beginning in October 1973.^[16]

In 1980, the U.S. Windpower company installed 20 wind turbines on the Crotched Mountain property, forming what has been described as the world's first wind farm.^[11][17]

A wheelchair-accessible treehouse was built on the campus by Bill Allen and Phil Trabulsky, both associated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont.^[18]

In 2007, Linda D. Bevins, an employee at the Crotched Mountain Foundation, was accused of stealing funds from the organization by creating fictitious employees and directing their paychecks to herself.^[19] A federal indictment was issued in March 2008.^[20] In July 2009, Bevins pleaded guilty to stealing approximately $1.6 million from the foundation.^[21] She was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison in October 2009.^[22] A civil suit filed by the foundation resulted in a judgment of more than $1 million against Bevins and her daughter, Holly Sears.^[23]

In June 2017, the Crotched Mountain Foundation's Board of Trustees voted to close the Crotched Mountain Specialty Hospital, which focused on neuro-rehabilitation for patients with brain injuries and other conditions. The hospital had accumulated approximately $20 million in losses over its operating history and was projected to lose $4.8 million in 2017 alone. At the time of the closure announcement, the hospital served approximately 30 patients and employed about 130 staff.^[15]

In June 2020, the Crotched Mountain Foundation announced it would close the Greenfield campus by the end of the year, citing years of financial losses worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the campus served approximately 80 students and 16 adult residents, with about 500 employees.^[3]

In November 2020, New York-based Gersh Autism took over management of the school, renaming it "Legacy by Gersh at Crotched Mountain."^[24][25] In October 2022, Gersh announced it would close the school, citing staffing shortages. The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services simultaneously announced it would revoke the school's license, citing repeated compliance failures found during inspections.^[26]

In November 2022, Seven Hills Foundation, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit, acquired the campus and received a new operating license from the state.^[4][27] The school reopened as Crotched Mountain School & Village, operated by a new affiliate called Seven Hills New Hampshire. Seven Hills' president, Dr. David A. Jordan, had previously served as president of the Crotched Mountain Foundation from 1985 to 1995.^[28]

In June 2023, the New Hampshire Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee approved $7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for campus renovations, supplementing an estimated $8 million commitment from Seven Hills. State Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut identified approximately $15 million in deferred maintenance at the campus.^[29][30] As of December 2025, Seven Hills reported enrollment had grown to 63 students and that the organization had invested approximately $21 million in campus restoration.^[31]

Following the sale of the Greenfield campus, the Crotched Mountain Foundation relocated to Manchester, New Hampshire, and shifted its focus to community-based programs for people with disabilities, including special education partnerships with public schools, case management services for seniors and adults with disabilities, and family care programs.^[5][32] The foundation continues to own approximately 90 percent of the land surrounding the campus, including the accessible trail system and land along Sunset Lake.^[2]

• Crotched Mountain Foundation
• Crotched Mountain School & Village (Seven Hills Foundation)
• Business case analysis of Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center (Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College)

42°58′20.52″N 71°52′24.33″W / 42.9723667°N 71.8734250°W / 42.9723667; -71.8734250