Message From the Chief Medical Officer

As we celebrate our 60-year history of success in rehabilitation, we’re doing what we’ve always done: looking ahead to the future. Our task is to ensure that we have the resources to continue to provide people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

The pioneering work we do for our patients is grounded in our comprehensive approach to rehabilitation that blends clinical care, research, education and advocacy. On the clinical side, we accept the challenge of the most complex patients with a very high rate of discharge to the community. Their photos and stories line our hallways as a daily reminder that they are the reason we come to work. They – and other people with disabilities we’ve never met – are the beneficiaries of the work we do in education and advocacy at the national and international levels.

In reflecting on the shape successful rehabilitation will take in the future, we’re building on the vision of our founder, Dr. William A. Spencer. That vision is symbolized by the sculpture Prometheus Unbound, which stands at our main entrance, reaching upward beyond the chains. The plaque carries the words of Dr. Spencer: “Man uses the tiniest of strengths for the greatest purposes.” That’s what we’ve always done and will continue to do.

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