Winter 2020 Edition

Rehabilitation professionals at TIRR Memorial Hermann recognize clinical care, education, research and advocacy as the four pillars that create an outstanding institution and lead to exceptional patient experiences. Rhonda Abbott, PT, FTPTA, vice president of operations for TIRR Memorial Hermann and the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, talks about the ways in which education moves us forward into the future.

In 2019, the program was restructured as TIRR Memorial Hermann Education, and now includes four distinct programs: the Education Academy, Staff Education and Training, the Student and Observer Program, and Post-professional Programs.

Residents at two Houston medical schools complete rotations at TIRR Memorial Hermann. McGovern Medical School has 16 PM&R residents, with four new residents each year, and Baylor College of Medicine has 24 positions, with eight new residents per year.

As we celebrate our 60-year history of success in rehabilitation, we’re doing what we’ve always done: looking ahead to the future. Our task is to ensure that we have the resources to continue to provide people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Today, as TIRR Memorial Hermann celebrates its 60th anniversary, the hospital is ranked the best in the southern half of the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual listing of Best Hospitals for Rehabilitation. The hospital has ranked among the top five in the country in all but three years since the magazine began publishing the list 30 years ago.

When asked why she chose a career in neuropsychology, Katherine O’Brien, PhD, often tells people she fell into it. The summer before she entered the University of Rochester in New York, Dr. O’Brien underwent endoscopic brain surgery for a colloid cyst, an incidental finding on imaging after she suffered a concussion in a fall. Today she is the brain injury program leader and clinical neuropsychologist for the Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann.

A nurse with more than 20 years of health care experience, Nicole Harrison, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, has held leadership positions for more than 17 of those years. She joined TIRR Memorial Hermann last May as vice president and chief nursing officer, with responsibility for nursing quality and patient care at two freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospitals – TIRR Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy – and the post-acute rehabilitation units within Memorial Hermann’s citywide network of hospitals.

TIRR Memorial Hermann is pleased to announce the addition of four physicians to its medical staff: Cindy Ivanhoe, MD, Abana Azariah, MD, Matthew Lin, MD, and Kristin Varacalli, DO, MPH.

One common problem encountered is urine incontinence, or leaking between catheterizations, which can cause medical complications including skin breakdown and decreased quality of life. Anticholinergic bladder medications are often prescribed at higher doses in the SCI population and have intolerable side effects that contribute to low compliance. Other treatment strategies, including newer medications and bladder injections, are often too expensive or otherwise difficult to obtain. There is a need for alternative treatment strategies that are affordable and can be obtained anywhere.

TIRR Memorial Hermann research featured in print, on the podium and poster presentations.

As Rhonda Abbott pointed out in our lead story, education is the beginning of practice in health care, and it is also the beginning of learning to live life with a disability. By investing in the education of our staff members, we help them advance in their disciplines and contribute to improved outcomes for our patients.