The Ben Bliek spent about two weeks in an ICU before doctors moved him to TIRR Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center to begin his rehabilitation. Doctors recognized that Bliek, a former baseball and basketball player who also loves to exercise, could benefit from adding pickleball to his r...
Three University of Arizona adaptive track athletes competed in the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. The three athletes are also mentors at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
TIRR Memorial Hospital said that aside from spreading holiday cheer, Annie and her handler also assist in therapy sessions with patients, many of whom have enduring life-altering conditions, providing “remarkable physical, emotional, and psychological benefits for these patients.”
TIRR Memorial Hermann at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center's sensory-friendly Santa was highlighted by KPRC Channel 2.
Abbi Evans '26 overcame a serious spinal cord injury suffered as a junior in high school and is now conducting research on that very topic in the lab of Texas A&M biologist and former TIRR Foundation Fellow Dr. Jennifer Dulin '05.
Traumatic Brain Injury patient, Kelubia Mabatah, returned to TIRR Memorial Hermann to donate $22,500 in therapy scholarships for patients.
Dr. Cindy Ivanhoe, founding sponsor of the ReelAbilities Houston Film & Art Festival, brought together more than 50 medical students, residents and fellows to view three movies from the Festival.
Eaton, who lives in Jersey Village, got her start in wheelchair basketball through TIRR Memorial Hermann’s Junior Hotwheels Team. She represented Team USA at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Kaitlyn Eaton has been playing wheelchair basketball competitively since she was a teenager. She first joined the Hotwheels basketball team at TIRR Memorial Hermann back in 2010, playing on teams with mostly boys at first.
The Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act was signed into law Jan. 5, 2023, after Dr. Smith's death in 2021. The designation honors rehabilitation centers leading the field in research and treatment innovations.
TIRR Memorial Hermann hosted a “sendoff celebration” for several Houston area athletes who are members of the Team USA Paris 2024 Paralympic team.
Houston's Mark Barr is spending his 38th birthday, Aug. 24, in France — but he won’t be there for the country’s culinary delights. Instead, he’ll be hard at work at the Olympic Training Center with Team USA, preparing for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
TIRR Memorial Hermann hosted a “sendoff celebration” for several Houston area athletes who are members of the Team USA Paris 2024 Paralympic team.
Zach Harrell works with TIRR Memorial Hermann to break barriers as a double amputee with TAR. He loves to play ball, kayak, and more.
Marco dedicated himself to his physical therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann, which involved exercises on his back, his stomach and sitting in a chair. The TIRR team focused on improving his alignment and strengthening his muscles, which helped to improve Marco’s breathing.
TIRR Memorial Hermann once again ranks No. 2 among the country’s top rehabilitation hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospital rankings for 2024-2025, which were released today. TIRR Memorial Hermann has been included in the prestigious rankings since the report’s inception in 1989...
Doctors from TIRR Memorial Hermann say the man is the first documented case of what they have termed generalized anosognosia and anosodiaphoria after bifrontal injury syndrome (GAABIS). They described the case earlier this year in the journal Neurological Sciences.
In 2020, the Oil & Gas executive discovered a brain tumor that was removed in 2011 had returned. Surgery followed, but this time, it left her paralyzed on the left side of her body. Soon after she moved into TIRR Memorial Hermann to begin her recovery process.
“The parts of the brain that serve language through music are different than the parts of the brain related to understanding or producing speech,” said Nikola Dragojlovic, DO, Brain injury physician with UTHealth Houston and TIRR Memorial Hermann.
Dr. Lisa Wenzel, who works at TIRR Memorial Hermann where Vanessa was eventually transferred for rehabilitation, explains Vanessa's diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome or GBS. "It's an acute inflammatory condition of the nervous system. This is not the spinal cord in the brain, but actually the ...
Judy learned about an adaptive sports program at TIRR Memorial Hermann, the Junior Hotwheels wheelchair basketball team. She reached out to Peggy Turner, athletics community liaison and adapted sports and recreation coordinator at TIRR.
He teamed up with Dr. Marina-Elvira Papangelou at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. It was then that Albert saw a glimmer of hope, things started to get consistent, "I noticed changes that gave me extra fire to keep going."
Walkers support each of the 4-year-old boys' steps. They both have cerebral palsy, a congenital disorder that limits movement, balance and posture.
Turner, now the adapted sports coordinator at TIRR Memorial Hermann, has dedicated her 41-year career to making athletics more inclusive. She’s being honored for that work while the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four is in Houston this weekend.
A story about a Beaumont area teenager who made a miraculous recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann after suffering a traumatic brain injury when the car she was in was hit from behind.
KHOU Channel 11 did a story about the TIRR Memorial Hermann Hot Wheels basketball team and their upcoming exhibition game during the NCAA Final Four weekend in Houston. The story also featured Peggy Turner, TIRR’s adaptive sports coordinator, who will be honored with the NCAA’s &ldquo...
Dr. Vinay Vanodia, medical director of the amputee and limb loss rehabilitation program at TIRR Memorial Hermann, was interviewed by ABC’s Good Morning America about a patient who lost both hands and feet due to septic shock following child birth.
Dr. Petya Demireva, a clinical neuropsychologist with TIRR Memorial Hermann, was interviewed by KPRC Channel 2 for a story on frontotemporal dementia in light of actor Bruce Willis’ diagnosis.
TIRR Memorial Hermann Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Gerard Francisco, was quoted in the Houston Chronicle for a story about former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords thanking caregivers at TIRR prior to a screening of a documentary about her life.
Nearly 12 years after she was discharged from TIRR Memorial Hermann, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords joined her former care team and facility leaders for a virtual conversation and film screening of the documentary about her journey toward recovery.
TIRR Memorial Hermann therapists, Chelsea Miller, Christine Malone, and Molly Filigrana, were interviewed for a story on KBMT-TV in Beaumont about a Beaumont-area cheerleader who was critically injured last fall when a charter bus rear-ended her parent’s vehicle.
TIRR Memorial Hermann therapists, Katie Nedley, Jordan Birdsong, Ty Walcott, were all interviewed for a story about a former patient who suffered a severe spinal cord injury. He’s a musician and he will be performing at the upcoming ReelAbilities Music Festival.
Dr. Sudha Tallavajhula, associate professor of neurology with UTHealth Houston and medical director of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Neurological Sleep Medicine Center, spoke with Livestrong about why you might regularly wake up right before your alarm goes off.
After surgery on his spine removed the infection, Bolton started inpatient care at TIRR Memorial Hermann the Monday following his surgery. His care team included occupational therapist Gloria Sipakati, Dr. Isaac Hernandez and physical therapist Angela Owens.
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, which set the standard for ongoing study and patient care.
An accident can change your life in an instant. In those unfortunate moments we’re so lucky to live in a place with world class medical care. The Texas medical center has some one-of-a-kind facilities, among them is TIRR Memorial Hermann. TIRR stands for the Institute for Rehabilitation and Resea...
Dr. Claudia Martinez had to put medical school on hold a few years ago when she developed a Chiari malformation and had a stroke that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She made a miraculous recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann and is now a doctor seeing patients at TIRR.
Dr. Claudia Martinez had to put medical school on hold a few years ago when she developed a Chiari malformation and had a stroke that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She made a miraculous recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann and is now a doctor seeing patients at TIRR.
Dr. Claudia Martinez had to put medical school on hold a few years ago when she developed a Chiari malformation and had a stroke that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She made a miraculous recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann and is now a doctor seeing patients at TIRR.
Dr. Sheng Li, a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Director of Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Research at TIRR Memorial Hermann, spoke to the Houston Chronicle about a patient who suffers with ...
Dr. Afton McNierney, Emergency Medicine Specialist, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, Dr. Sam Javedan, a neurosurgeon with Mischer Neuroscience Associates at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center and Amanda Wirt, occupational therapist with TIRR Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands...
Jacob Allen was born in Ukraine with Spina Bifida. He was adopted out of a Ukrainian orphanage by a family in Kingwood at the age of 15. His health care had been so neglected before moving here that his leg could not be saved. It was amputated in December of 2018. He endured 6 to 8 weeks of...
David Cañamar, a registered nurse, and Emily Young, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist at TIRR Memorial Hermann, were featured along with patient, Mason Spelling, on a special broadcast that honored healthcare workers. Mason was paralyzed after a motocross accident and has been ...
May is Stroke Awareness Month. From warning signs to risk factors - Dr. Sunil Sheth, a UTHealth neurologist affiliated with Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Associates, discusses what to look out for to help prevent and treat strokes.
Jacob Allen was born in Ukraine with Spina Bifida. He was adopted out of a Ukrainian orphanage by a family in Kingwood at the age of 15. His health care had been so neglected before moving here that his leg could not be saved. It was amputated in December of 2018. He endured 6 to 8 weeks of...
The miracle recovery of Walker Hicks, a baby who suffered a traumatic brain injury who has made huge strides in his recovery thanks to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital. Dr. Stephen Fletcher, Dr. Phuong Nguyen, Dr. Stacey Hall, Dr. Peter Scully and Dr. ...
Dr. Cindy Ivanhoe, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UTHealth Houston and TIRR Memorial Hermann, talks about how doctors are treating long-term COVID patients.
TIRR Memorial Hermann patient, Jaclyn Pellicote, suffered a traumatic brain injury after a car accident. After months of intense rehab she made a miraculous recovery. She is now using her experience to mentor other patients going through rehab.
Peggy Turner, Athletics Community Liaison and Adapted Sports Coordinator with TIRR Memorial Hermann, along with former TIRR patients, spoke about a high school athlete who received a scholarship to the University of Arizona to play wheelchair basketball.
Peggy Turner, Athletics Community Liaison and Adapted Sports Coordinator with TIRR Memorial Hermann, along with former TIRR patients, spoke about tryouts for the USA Low-Point Wheelchair Rugby Team hosted by TIRR Memorial Hermann.
Dr. Matthew Davis, an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and clinical medical director of spinal cord injury service line at TIRR Memorial Hermann, spoke with the Houston Chronicle about Makayla Noble, a high school cheerleader who...
In just four short months, Himanshu Prasad has made great progress. Once not able to easily bend his legs, today he is climbing stairs and he's got even bigger goals. The 17-year-old was born with spastic diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy that causes tightness in the hip and leg muscles. All his...
Peggy Turner, Athletics Community Liaison and Adapted Sports Coordinator with TIRR Memorial Hermann, along with Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, spoke with KUHF Radio about the new James Driver Park, a new inclusive park in NE Houston.
Dawn McDonald, OTR, CLST, Lead Pediatric Therapist, OT III, TIRR Memorial Hermann – The Woodlands, spoke with the Houston Chronicle about how she developed lymphedema after a double mastectomy and now helps women at TIRR with the same condition get back to their lives.
Eugene Bramble, fitness specialist with TIRR Memorial Hermann – Kirby Glen was part of a feature story about Kel Matabah on KTRK Channel 13. Matabah, a TIRR Memorial Hermann patient, suffered a traumatic brain injury and started a foundation to help others who are also recovering from TBIs.
This is the first large retrospective cohort study on the primary medical and neurological complications and comorbidities in persons with DoC. A total of 146 patients admitted to a specialized inpatient DoC rehabilitation program from 1 January 2014 to 31 October 2018 were included.
Dr. Gerard Francisco, Chief Medical Officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann and Chair of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UTHealth, talks about music therapy for the brain.
Rhonda Abbott, Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann, talks about TIRR Memorial Hermann being a founding partner and supporter of the ReelAbilities Festival.
How music therapy helped U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords find her voice after being shot.
A Kingwood, TX woman who contracted polio as a child before the development of vaccine vowed not to miss out on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kaitlyn Eaton started playing wheelchair basketball at 5 years old. She was born with a condition where part of her spine missing.
An ER doctor from Louisiana survives COVID-19 after spending weeks in the hospital and going through rehab at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
A UTHealth/Memorial Hermann doctor talks about the long-term effects of COVID-19.
Most patients who survive COVID-19 after being treated in ICU, need to undergo rehabilitation to get their mobility back. TIRR Memorial Hermann has created a program specifically designed to help these patients.
Gerard Francisco, MD, is chief medical officer for TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital and chairman and professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UTHealth’s McGovern Medical School. He spoke with TMC News on June 3, 2020. From what we heard about COVID...
Survivors of critical illness from acute respiratory syndrome and the prior SARS epidemic suggest that critically ill COVID-19 survivors may experience a wide range of sequelae, resulting in long-lasting physical, cognitive, and psychological dysfunction. Early rehabilitation can mitigate these c...
Lake Creek High School Principal Phil Eaton was unconscious and using a ventilator for nearly three weeks at Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands. "I shouldn't be alive," he says. After spending 21 days on a ventilator fighting for his life, Phil Eaton spent a month as a TIRR Memorial Hermann-The Woodl...
People with spinal cord injury (SCI) represent a unique diagnostic challenge as it relates to coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with SCI develop a myriad of physiological changes that not only increase their risk of morbidity from COVID-19, but may also mask the presentation of a...
Lacy Johnson, 17, has recently begun regaining function in the left side of her body thanks to TIRR Memorial Hermann.
Hospitals will be required to post the cost of their standard services online, starting Jan. 1, 2019. Patients will be able to compare prices before seeking treatment.
The crash injured Anzaldua so badly that he initially could not speak or breathe on his own. It was weeks before he could swallow on his own. He spent almost two months at TIRR Memorial Hermann, one of the premier rehabilitation facilities in the country.
Houston disability rights activist Lex Frieden, one of the ADA’s authors, told TMC News this year that working with Bush was a defining moment in his advocacy efforts.
On the Fourth of July in 2016, Braden Scott came down with what seemed like just a summer cold. But a couple of days later, when the 5-year-old couldn’t swallow and was having trouble walking, his parents took him to urgent care in Beaumont. But Braden continued to get worse, so his parents...
Since the birth of little Hiram was diagnosed with Charge syndrome and, for this reason, had to undergo different treatments and operations that would allow him to continue alive. Today, at 4 years of age, he has managed to overcome medical prognosis, walks by his own means and communicates with ...
The impact from the accident tore Sneed’s spinal cord from the base of her skull. Two weeks later, Sneed was transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston—the No. 2 rehabilitation hospital in the nation—for in-patient care. Although she was unable to talk, walk, move her limbs...
What started as minor numbness in her face, by the end of the day, she was completely paralyzed. “It’s a disease where the body, something causes it to attack itself. It attacks the nerves," said Dr. P. Jacob Joseph with TIRR Memorial Hermann/UT Health. Dr. Joseph says the exact cause...
“I sat down with my doctor to come up with a plan to allow me to continue to teach class as I went through chemo. My doctor said, ‘You’re not sick. You might have cancer, but you’re not sick.’” Her medical oncologist is Dr. Michelina Cairo. Her breast surgeon i...
Dr. Kristyn Greifer with Memorial Hermann Health Plan and Memorial Hermann ACO stops by to share the importance of Medicare Advantage plans.
An Alzheimer's study found that excessive daytime sleepiness may cause plaque buildup in the brain that's considered a hallmark of the condition. A leading Houston sleep doctor said this study should be a wake-up call to everyone. "This should be something you think about and one of the many reas...
A 7-year-old boy is being credited with helping save his grandmother's life by using Siri. Noble Koontz was with his grandmother, Evon Pruitt, on a business trip on Sept. 17 when Pruitt suffered a stroke. Koontz realized something wasn't right with his grandmother because she was unable to use he...
After Eugene Alford suffered six broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken shoulder blade from the accident, he went through rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
The Houston Business Journal named 48 business leaders as honorees for the 2018 Most Admired CEO Awards, including Chuck Stokes, president and CEO, Memorial Hermann Health System.
The Houston Business Journal named 48 business leaders as honorees for the 2018 Most Admired CEO Awards, including Chuck Stokes, president and CEO, Memorial Hermann Health System.
Seventeen health systems have launched a national collaboration through the Avia innovation network to develop more effective ways of serving their Medicaid populations.
For Katie Sorrentino, her Mother’s Day scuba dive started off as normal as the hundreds of dives she had completed over the last 35 years. The veteran, licensed diver was on vacation with her family in the Bahamas when she experienced symptoms of decompression sickness or “the bends.&...
TMC institutions named among Top 10 hospitals nationwide in several medical specialties by U.S. News & World Report’s 2018-2019 “Best Hospitals” rankings.
A Stratford High School football player, excelling in the sport he loves, saw his life flash before his eyes. The end result - an appreciation for everything we all sometimes take for granted.
This year, 2018, is 50 years after I graduated from what is now TIRR Memorial Hermann, 40 years after we founded the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) Program at TIRR and 30 years after the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center opened.
A Baytown teen who suffered from a gunshot wound due to an accidental shooting was able to walk the stage with his senior class.
As part of Hellard’s recovery plan, he was referred to TIRR Memorial Hermann-The Woodlands for inpatient rehabilitation. During treatment, Hellard was referred to an interventional cardiologist/heart disease specialist.
Thousands of people are wrongly labeled unconscious after severe brain injuries each year. Some have their life support withdrawn; some are sent to nursing homes and left to lay in bed, aware but unable to show it. A fortunate few make it to a Houston rehab hospital, where those with even the wor...
Across the country, thousands of people with severe brain injuries are wrongly labeled as unconscious each year. Among them, a small number make it to a Houston rehab hospital, where those with even the worst injuries get a shot at recovery.
Memorial Hermann is one of the largest integrated health care delivery systems in Texas, with more than $5 billion in total operating annual revenue and more than 25,000 employees.
The fly-fishing paintings and golf course photos in Chuck Stokes’ office are there to remind him that he should take time to relax - but there hasn’t been much down time.
TIRR Memorial Hermann again ranked as the second best hospital for rehabilitative care in U.S. News & World Report's annual survey of the nation's best hospitals, released Tuesday.
A Willis teenager paralyzed from the waist down in a serious auto accident last year is on track to walk across the Sam Houston State University stage for his high school graduation in May. "Walking honestly wasn't even a goal (in the beginning)," said Matthew Haynes, TIRR Memorial Hermann The Wo...
Paralyzed from the neck down, 20-year-old Louis Tontodonato has enrolled in the first clinical trial testing the ability of stem cells to repair spinal cord injuries and restore sensation and movement in quadriplegics.
Check out the 2014 Best in Health Care winners in north and south Texas.
Dr. Danielle Melton's opinion on robotic control systems for prosthetic legs in Michael Smith's article, "Robot Leg Gives Near-Normal Mobility" in MedPage Today.
Director of the Amputee Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann, discusses the psychological implications of losing a limb on KPRC.
For the 35th consecutive year, TIRR Memorial Hermann is recognized as the best rehabilitation hospital in Texas and No. 2 in the nation according to U.S. News and World Report's "Best Rehabilitation Hospitals" in America.
Learn more about TIRR Memorial Hermann rankings