Meet the Leaders

TIRR Memorial Hermann is a national leader in medical rehabilitation and research and a model for interdisciplinary rehabilitation services, patient care, education, and research.

Under the leadership team, including Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer Rhonda Abbott, Vice President, Operations Christine Adair, Interim Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer Judy Ho and Chief Medical Officer Gerard E. Francisco, TIRR Memorial Hermann has fortified existing programs and developed new programs, seen significant increases in patient satisfaction, increased efficiency and logged improvements in quality, customer experience and operational excellence.

Rhonda M. Abbott, PT, FTPTA

Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

Since 2001, Abbott has held integral roles within TIRR Memorial Hermann, starting her career as a staff therapist in the spinal cord injury and specialty rehabilitation program and earning successive promotions to director of therapy services and director of clinical programs, vice president of operations and chief operating officer.

Abbott oversees TIRR Memorial Hermann’s continued excellence in rehabilitative care, research, advocacy and education across the Memorial Hermann Health System. Under her leadership, Abbott has led clinical care redesign initiatives, translational research efforts, quality care improvements, expansion of therapy education programs and efficiency improvements. During her tenure, the Campus continued to demonstrate national recognition as a leader in rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report. She also led TIRR expansion efforts and clinical practice leveling across our System, helped secure CARF accreditation at three of our Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network locations, provided therapy direction both at TIRR Memorial Hermann and for the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, and expanded the rehabilitation education program. Abbott has a passion for neurorehabilitation and teaching and is actively committed to learning, which led to her enthusiasm for therapy leadership.

Abbott is on the board of directors for the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and American College of Healthcare Executives, a Texas Physical Therapy Association Tom Waugh Leadership Development Fellow, champion of Women Leaders of Memorial Hermann, graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future Business/Civic Leadership Forum and an advocate for the ReelAbilities Film Committee.

As SVP and CEO, Abbott will continue to lead the TIRR mission forward, to be the world’s standard bearer for rehabilitation and research and redefining rehabilitation. She will continue to ground the System as a leader in medical rehabilitation and research, and as a provider of exceptional patient experiences.

Janelle Headley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy

Janelle Headley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, serves as the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for TIRR Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy. She provides executive and clinical leadership for nursing practice, patient care delivery, and operations across inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings, as well as the system's broader rehabilitation network.

Janelle Headley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, serves as the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for TIRR Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy. She provides executive and clinical leadership for nursing practice, patient care delivery, and operations across inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings, as well as the system's broader rehabilitation network.

Throughout her tenure, Headley has been a champion for nursing quality and clinical innovation. Under her leadership, all neuroscience units under her purview achieved the prestigious Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), including the first inpatient rehabilitation unit in the Memorial Hermann system to achieve this honor. She has also co-led important systemwide initiatives, including the development of the PCT-to-LVN academic partnership with Houston Community College to build robust nursing pipelines.

Headley earned her Associate of Science in Nursing from the NYC College of Technology in Brooklyn, NY. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing Leadership, and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz. She is board certified as a Nurse Executive, Advanced (NEA-BC) and is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), the American Nurses Association (ANA), and the Texas Nurses Association (TNA). Additionally, she serves on the Houston Community College President’s Advisory Board and is a dedicated volunteer and mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston.

P. Jacob Joseph, MD

Chief Medical Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann

P. Jacob Joseph, MD, serves as the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for TIRR Memorial Hermann. As CMO he provides executive clinical leadership, overseeing medical staff operations, patient safety, and clinical quality initiatives, while driving the integration of cutting-edge rehabilitation research into patient care across the network.

A highly respected physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) specialist, Dr. Joseph has been a key member of the medical staff at TIRR Memorial Hermann since 2010. His primary clinical focus centers on caring for patients recovering from stroke, traumatic brain injury, neurotrauma, and dual-diagnosis injuries (combining brain and spinal cord injuries). His extensive clinical and research interests include spasticity management and electrodiagnostic medicine. For many years, he served as the clinical chief of specialty rehabilitation programs and medical director of international programs at TIRR Memorial Hermann. In addition to his leadership at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Dr. Joseph serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, helping to bridge the gap between academic medicine and outstanding clinical practice.

Over his distinguished tenure at Memorial Hermann, Dr. Joseph has earned multiple honors for his excellence in clinical care and teaching. He was named TIRR Memorial Hermann's Physician of the Year in 2011 and received the McGovern Medical School Dean's Teaching Excellence Award in 2014. Dr. Joseph is board certified in PM&R and is an active member of leading professional societies, including the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPMR) and the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP).

He received his medical degree from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston in 2006. He subsequently completed his transitional internship and his PM&R residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Christine Adair, MBA, MOT, OT

Vice President of Operations
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

Adair joined TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2005 as an occupational therapist after completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Rhode Island in Providence, and her master’s degree in occupational therapy at New York University in New York City. After several years of service in a clinical role at TIRR, she expanded her experience by consulting in OT and education before returning to TIRR in 2010 as a senior occupational therapist.

Adair advanced to weekend therapy manager and then joined Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital as director of rehabilitation, where she led the unit through TIRR branding and recognition as the first Memorial Hermann community hospital to achieve Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) designation. She also has held roles as director of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Education Academy and director of operations at Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy.

Adair completed Quality of Texas Examiner Training in 2017 and 2019 and received her Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management from Rice University in 2017. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and of the Memorial Hermann Women Leaders Membership and Champions Committee.