Meet the Leaders

TIRR Memorial Hermann is a national leader in medical rehabilitation and research and a model for interdisciplinary rehabilitation services, patient care, education, and research.

Under the leadership team, including Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer Rhonda Abbott; Vice President, Operations Christine Adair, Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer Nicole Harrison, Chief Medical Officer Gerard E. Francisco and Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Graham, TIRR Memorial Hermann has fortified existing programs and developed new programs, seen significant increases in patient satisfaction, increased efficiency and logged improvements in quality, customer experience and operational excellence.

Rhonda M. Abbott, PT, FTPTA

Senior Vice President & Chief Executive Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

Since 2001, Abbott has held integral roles within TIRR Memorial Hermann, starting her career as a staff therapist in the spinal cord injury and specialty rehabilitation program and earning successive promotions to director of therapy services and director of clinical programs, vice president of operations and chief operating officer.

Abbott oversees TIRR Memorial Hermann’s continued excellence in rehabilitative care, research, advocacy and education across the Memorial Hermann Health System. Under her leadership, Abbott has led clinical care redesign initiatives, translational research efforts, quality care improvements, expansion of therapy education programs and efficiency improvements. During her tenure, the Campus continued to demonstrate national recognition as a leader in rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report. She also led TIRR expansion efforts and clinical practice leveling across our System, helped secure CARF accreditation at three of our Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network locations, provided therapy direction both at TIRR Memorial Hermann and for the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, and expanded the rehabilitation education program. Abbott has a passion for neurorehabilitation and teaching and is actively committed to learning, which led to her enthusiasm for therapy leadership.

Abbott is on the board of directors for the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and American College of Healthcare Executives, a Texas Physical Therapy Association Tom Waugh Leadership Development Fellow, champion of Women Leaders of Memorial Hermann, graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future Business/Civic Leadership Forum and an advocate for the ReelAbilities Film Committee.

As SVP and CEO, Abbott will continue to lead the TIRR mission forward, to be the world’s standard bearer for rehabilitation and research and redefining rehabilitation. She will continue to ground the System as a leader in medical rehabilitation and research, and as a provider of exceptional patient experiences.

Nicole Harrison, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC

Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

Harrison has more than 20 years of experience in health care administration and has held leadership positions for more than 17 of those years. She joined TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2019 as vice president and chief nursing officer.

As chief nursing officer for TIRR Memorial Hermann and the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network, she is responsible for nursing quality and patient care at two freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and the post-acute rehabilitation units within Memorial Hermann hospitals. She participates in System-wide initiatives to promote efficiency and cooperation across divisions.

Harrison joined the leadership team at TIRR Memorial Hermann after eight years of service at its acute-care sister hospital, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where she was associate vice president of the neuroscience service line, post-acute care and operations. She has worked in academic, community and post-acute care hospital settings, which share a common focus on quality and optimizing care to create the best possible patient outcomes. She has a proven track record of generating results through collaboration, innovation and teamwork, and is deeply devoted to creating exceptional patient care experiences.

Harrison received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Baylor University in Dallas, Texas, and her MBA from American InterContinental University. She holds a Nurse Executive Advanced Board Certification (NEA-BC) and is a member of the Association of Nurse Executives.

Gerard Francisco, MD, FAAPMR

Chief Medical Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann

Professor and Chairman of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)

Adjunct Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Baylor College of Medicine

Chair, Rehabilitation Clinical Practice Committee
Memorial Hermann Health System

Dr. Francisco is one of the nation's leading physicians in the field of brain injury and stroke rehabilitation and spasticity management. A frequent lecturer nationally and internationally, he is currently conducting research on the use of botulinum toxins and intrathecal baclofen for the treatment of spasticity, along with the use of robots to facilitate recovery after stroke or spinal cord injury. He is one of three principal investigators of a four-year National Institutes of Health R01 grant to create and validate a noninvasive brain-robot interface to help stroke patients recover use of their upper limbs to the fullest extent possible.

Dr. Francisco received his medical degree from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Medicine and Dentistry-New Jersey Medical School, where he was chief resident. He was inducted as a member of the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth's Academy of Master Educators in 2012, and upon election to the University of Texas System Academy of Health Science Educators in 2013 was awarded the title Distinguished Teaching Professor. He was named among U.S. News & World Report's Best Doctors in America in 2011, among Texas Monthly Magazine's Texas Super Doctors in 2012, and has been on the Best Doctors in America® list several times since 2000. He was former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' brain injury rehabilitation physician during her stay at TIRR Memorial Hermann.

During his tenure as chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann, Dr. Francisco has recruited accomplished clinicians and researchers, fortified existing programs and developed new programs to meet patient needs, including the creation and expansion of the Outpatient Medical Clinic, which includes a medical home for individuals with disabilities age 13 and older who require care by a physician. He is also director of the UTHealth Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Motor Recovery Lab at TIRR Memorial Hermann, which conducts research in robot-assisted rehabilitation, noninvasive brain stimulation and spasticity management.

Jessica Graham, MBA

Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

A highly versatile health care professional with 15 years of change management experience, Graham is an excellent strategist and proven operational leader with experience in the acute care, inpatient rehabilitation and home care settings. She has experience in both finance and clinical operations, which supports her understanding of and commitment to pairing quality health care with strategic financial decision-making.

Graham received her bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and her MBA at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She was recruited to TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2018, having worked previously as director of finance and cancer services at Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital. Prior to relocating to Houston, Graham had the opportunity to open Roper Hospice with Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, South Carolina. In this role she learned the important balance between clinical and financial operations.

Graham first joined the System in 2018 as VP, Finance for TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy and the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network. During her time with TIRR, Graham improved patient admissions by more than 10%, leveraging process improvements that reduced turnaround times and length of stay, and improved patient satisfaction. Last fall, Graham transitioned to her current role as VP, Finance for Memorial Hermann Katy and Memorial Hermann Cypress, where she has maintained double-digit operating margins by focusing on cost management and elective business profitability.

Graham has a passion for services that provide truly life-changing care, including rehabilitation, hospice and oncology. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

As VP of Finance, Graham will provide transparency and understanding of the financial operations of TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy and the Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network.

Christine Adair, MBA, MOT, OT

Vice President of Operations
TIRR Memorial Hermann, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy, Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Network

Adair joined TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2005 as an occupational therapist after completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Rhode Island in Providence, and her master’s degree in occupational therapy at New York University in New York City. After several years of service in a clinical role at TIRR, she expanded her experience by consulting in OT and education before returning to TIRR in 2010 as a senior occupational therapist.

Adair advanced to weekend therapy manager and then joined Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital as director of rehabilitation, where she led the unit through TIRR branding and recognition as the first Memorial Hermann community hospital to achieve Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) designation. She also has held roles as director of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Education Academy and director of operations at Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy.

Adair completed Quality of Texas Examiner Training in 2017 and 2019 and received her Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management from Rice University in 2017. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and of the Memorial Hermann Women Leaders Membership and Champions Committee.