History of TIRR Memorial Hermann
TIRR Memorial Hermann opened its doors in 1959 as one of he country's first rehabilitation hospitals and one of the first hospitals in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center. From humble beginnings as the Southwestern Poliomyelitis Respiratory Center, TIRR has grown to a 116-bed hospital regarded as a national leader in medical rehabilitation and research. As a teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TIRR offers patients leading-edge therapies and treatments based on ongoing research.
In 1962, TIRR established the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Program, now world-renowned especially in the care of ventilator-dependent patients. That same year, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare designated TIRR a National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.
In 1970, the Spinal Cord Injury Program collaborated with the Yale University developer of the phrenic pacemaker on the world's second surgical implant of the device, which allowed individuals with quadriplegia to breathe without a ventilator. The SCI program was named a Model Spinal Cord Injury Treatment System in 1972 by the forerunner of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a designation the program holds today.
