Message From the Chief Medical Officer

The TIRR Memorial Hermann Disorders of Consciousness Program is yet another facet of the care services we offer that sets us apart from other health systems in the nation.

Our location in the Texas Medical Center means that we are steps away from the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, one of the busiest Level I Trauma Centers in the nation.

Thanks to recent advances in critical care medicine, patients who have suffered a traumatic brain injury or stroke are now surviving in greater numbers than they did historically. However, many of them are emerging from their initial trauma with disorders of consciousness—in other words, with severely impaired levels of awareness and wakefulness. This includes coma or unresponsive wakefulness state.

The challenge for practitioners of rehabilitative medicine is, how can we make the most of the lives that were saved by our colleagues in critical care and medicine by helping these patients find ways to communicate and regain function?

To achieve this, our Disorders of Consciousness Program uses state-of-the-art innovations—both high-tech and low-tech—to assess and treat these patients to help maximize their potential recoveries and outcomes. These include therapeutic gait training using a ceiling-mounted body weight support harness system to promote “verticalization,” which improves muscle arousal and engages weight-bearing to mitigate risks for joint contractures and promote bone health.

The approaches used in the program are in keeping with TIRR Memorial Hermann’s position as a leader in rehabilitation and a pioneer in these care services nationally. In addition, the program accepts patients with non-traumatic brain injuries as well, in keeping with the program’s unofficial mantra: “Everybody deserves a chance.” Through efforts such as these, we are always trying to innovate and we pride ourselves in being visionary. We have always been among the first in the world to adopt these novel approaches, and we will continue to be.

Ultimately, our patients benefit from our spirit of innovation as well as the “can-do, never-give-up” attitude of our clinical staff members who are always seeking state-of-the-art solutions to challenges new and old.

At TIRR Memorial Hermann, that is part of our history— and it will be part of our future.

Gerard E. Francisco, MD
Chief Medical Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann
Professor and Wulfe Family Chair in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
McGovern Medical School at UTHealth