TIRR Memorial Hermann Joins Inaugural Innovation Center List

TIRR Memorial Hermann was among the leading health systems named to the inaugural list of Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Signed into law by President Joe Biden in January 2023, the Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2022 recognizes a leading class of pioneering rehabilitation research facilities across the country, including TIRR Memorial Hermann, for setting the standard for ongoing study and patient care in rehabilitation medicine.

The Act is designed to ensure that industry best practices and cutting-edge research are disseminated broadly to enable optimum patient outcomes. There are more than 1,100 Medicare-certified inpatient rehabilitation facilities across the United States, but only a limited number of rehabilitation institutions play a role in driving the future of rehabilitation care and medicine, and in turn, patient recovery.

“We are an innovation center and recognized as such because of all the work our clinicians, researchers, teachers and advocates do in providing cutting-edge patient care, leading groundbreaking research and educating the rehabilitation medicine providers of tomorrow,” notes Rhonda Abbott, senior vice president and CEO, TIRR Memorial Hermann. “As one of the innovation centers on this list, we have the opportunity to collaborate with other leading institutions nationally on research and clinical advances that will change the way rehabilitation medicine is delivered.”

Named after the late Dr. Joanne Smith, who was the president and CEO of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago before her death in 2021, the Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act legally defines institutions that conduct specified federal research and training programs for traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury and that serve Medicare patients.

“After the Act was signed nearly two years ago, the inaugural Innovation Center designation list recognition in 2024 provided us with a platform to leverage independent talents of our providers in a tangible way and help disseminate best practices to other rehabilitation medicine centers and beyond,” Abbott says. “Like the other centers on this list, TIRR Memorial Hermann cares for the most complex patients and constantly invests in the development of state-of-the-art treatment innovations. Recognizing the accomplishments of institutions such as ours is important because it highlights the significant contributions of our affiliated providers from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Baylor College of Medicine in improving patient care and outcomes for people with disabilities beyond the care happening within the four walls of our facilities.”

The 2024 inaugural Innovation Center list also included:

• The MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute
• The MetroHealth System of Cleveland
• MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C.
• Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City
• The Ohio State University Hospital in Columbus
• Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago/ Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
• Rusk Rehabilitation/New York University in New York City
• Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California
• Mayo Clinic Hospital/Saint Mary’s Campus in Rochester, Minn.
• UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center in Birmingham, Ala.
• Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Mass.
• University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• UW Medicine: Harborview Medical Center/ UW Medical Center campuses in Seattle
• Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital System in Richmond