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Of these advocates, Wilhelm Winternitz of
Vienna was probably the man most responsible
for giving hydrotherapy its physiological basis,
hence paving the way for institutional psychiatric
use of hydrotherapy. Winternitz wrote his
dissertation on Priessnitz's wasserkur as a
medical student - in his research measuring the
pulse rate of Priessnitz's patients and performing
other physiological test of the efficacy of
water-cure. Later he established a hydrotherapy
clinic while on the faculty of the University of
Vienna and opened his own water cure resort at
Kaltenlautgeben, a short distance from Vienna.

A contemporary of Winternitz and admirer of his work,
Simon Baruch was the most influential and tireless
advocate of hydrotherapy in the United States. After
presenting, in 1889, a paper at the New York Academy
of Medicine entitled "A Plea for the Practical Utilization
of Hydrotherapy," Baruch equipped and opened a
hydrotherapy unit at Montefiore Hospital. At first he
treated a variety of chronic conditions, particularly
tuberculosis, with limited success. Over time Baruch
began to accept neurasthenic patients referred to him
by S. Wier Mitchell and others and met with more
success treating psychosomatic complaints.

Attempting to refine his use of hydrotherapy, Baruch
worked with plumbing fixture manufacturers to design
and produce the equipment needed for hydrotherapeutic
treatment. He designed and equipped the hydrotherapy
suite at the new Bloomingdale Hospital in White Plains,
which opened in 1894.