Message from the CEO

In my travels around the TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation network and throughout Houston and beyond, I meet many current and former patients whose lives have been changed as a result of the care they received from our providers.

In a recent example, I stepped off the elevator here in our facility and received a warm hug from a patient’s wife as she and I met face-to-face for the first time, after emailing and talking by phone for several weeks. After that first meeting, I saw her and her husband frequently over the next several weeks. I could see he was moving toward recovery, and I was happy to be there when the couple was able eventually to walk out of our doors—together.

While I am thankful for the hug at the elevator, I am even more grateful to the wonderful team of caring and humanizing innovators I work with, as well as the patients and families—the people—who trust us with their care every day.

Whether rehabilitative goals within our four walls center around pain management, swallowing and speaking, activities of daily living or returning to work, all of them hold in common the use of creative and personalized approaches to improve health—and to truly make a difference in our patients’ quality of life.

In this issue of the TIRR Journal, you’ll read about advances in our Disorders of Consciousness Program and in the treatment of neurobehavioral disorders, which are in keeping with this spirit of innovation.

At TIRR Memorial Hermann, our “Road to Value” initiative is in keeping with the renewed emphasis on quality and outcomes in health care, and innovation is what gives our providers the tools to help patients with disabilities reach their goals.

Ultimately, that is our mission and that is what we value.

Rhonda Abbott, PT, FTPTA
Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann
System Executive for Rehabilitation Services
Memorial Hermann Health System