Spring 2016 Edition

"Hospitals and other care facilities have lowered their CAUTI rates by paying close attention to whether patients actually need a Foley catheter and by removing them when they don’t,” says Matthew Davis, MD, clinical director of the SCI Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann and a clinical professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School. “But health care professionals outside the field of rehabilitation are often unaware that many patients suffer from neurogenic bladder, which requires management either by indwelling catheters or by intermittent catheterization."

Our work as physicians centers fundamentally on our relationships with our patients, which includes advocating for them in the hospital setting and the community. While advocacy for educational and political change may be less widely accepted in the medical community, I believe it is our responsibility as physicians to take a stand on economic and social issues that affect the health and well being of our patients.

Four and a half years earlier, the two boys sustained serious thoracic spinal cord injuries in an auto accident that took the lives of their parents, Joshua and Robin Berry, on their return home to Houston after vacationing in Colorado. Paralyzed from the waist down, Peter and Aaron received emergency care at the Texas Trauma Institute and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, then spent the first three months after the accident at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago, which specializes in rehabilitation of children with spinal cord injuries. Their aunt, Houstonian Simone Berry, who with her husband Matt Berry assumed care of the boys, remained by their side.

“The ADA has brought about historic change in the U.S., resulting in more accessibility and higher quality of life for millions of Americans with disabilities,” says Carl Josehart, CEO of TIRR Memorial Hermann and senior vice president and CEO of Post-Acute Care Services for the Memorial Hermann Health System. “TIRR Memorial Hermann and Houston were the epicenter of grassroots efforts to bring the ADA to fruition, so it was fitting for us to organize part of the celebration activities. The room was filled with superstars of the ADA who lived its history on the frontlines, organizing themselves to become a powerful force in the writing and passage of the legislation.”

“Our volunteers have given much in time, talent and treasure for the benefit of patients,” says White, who had never known anyone with a disability until she volunteered at TIRR Memorial Hermann. “I got involved through my husband, who taught at St. John’s School. Dr. George Broyles was the team physician – his son had suffered a spinal cord injury in a football game and went to TIRR for rehab. One day Dr. Broyles approached me and said, ‘I’ve met the most wonderful person. Her name is Nita Weil, and I think you should talk with her about volunteering.’ I had two little girls at the time, but I went anyway and fell in love with Nita. I signe...

When Sara Ninan looks back, she wonders where the time went. On Aug. 25, 2015, she celebrated her 40th anniversary of service as a nurse at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Over those four decades, she saw the hospital’s reputation in rehabilitation and research grow, moved patients to a new six-story facility, watched the construction of the new TIRR Memorial Hermann Research Center, and witnessed the hospital’s move up the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list to No. 2 in 2015.

Before the ADA was passed, people with disabilities often encountered physical barriers in their communities because buildings and sidewalks were inaccessible. They also faced attitudinal and other barriers from the general public due to commonly held prejudices and misconceptions. The goal of the ADA was not simply to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability but to integrate people with disabilities in their respective communities so that they could fully participate and contribute to American society. Twenty-five years after the ADA was enacted, how successful have we been in reaching this goal?

Statewide Independent Living Councils, which exist in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five United States territories, are entities created under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, to conduct and coordinate the planning for states’ independent living programs. While they do not provide direct services to individuals with disabilities, they are a vital link in the independent living network.

The Texas Nursing Association (TNA) District 9, which represents nurses in Harris County, has named Mary Ann Euliarte, RN, CRRN, among its top 25 nurses at the organization’s 25th Annual Nursing Celebration. Euliarte is chief nursing officer and vice president of operations for TIRR Memorial Hermann and chief nurse of rehabilitation services for the Memorial Hermann Health System.

At TIRR Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center and across the citywide TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, we work closely together to ensure that our patients receive the appropriate level of care at the right time in the most convenient setting. They benefit from our capability to provide all levels of care across the lifespan seamlessly with a consistent level of quality – this is the power of an integrated health system.