Dr. Jennifer Villacorta can’t say she ever saw herself as a medical director.
“They are usually older, and I’m still wearing headbands,” she joked.
But when she was offered the position at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, the spinal cord injury specialist decided to “step up to it.”
“After being on the front lines as a physician, I realize there is so much you can do for patients and the medical team when you have a voice. And that’s what I’m excited about.”
Jacob Long’s list of titles can be a mouthful.
He’s a doctor of physical therapy (DPT). He earned his assistive technology professional (ATP) and seating and mobility specialist (SMS) certifications from the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). And he’s a neuro clinical specialist (NCS), a distinction bestowed by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS).
“It can be hard for even me to keep all of those acronyms straight,” he said.
It’s been over seven years since Stevelyn Robinson was paralyzed in a school bus crash, and he hasn’t stopped fighting. He continues to progress through regular physical therapy at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Ridgeland.
With the help of a walker, the Winona native walked across the stage at his 2016 graduation from Holmes Community College. Now a student at the University of Mississippi, he is working hard so he can do the same again.
Most teens’ “what I did on my summer vacation” essays are probably about lazing by the pool, hanging out with friends or family trips to Disney World.
Connor Bready’s could be titled “I Recovered from a Traumatic Brain Injury.”
The 16-year-old from Greenwood came to Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s brain injury program on June 12 in a wheelchair. He had just had surgery that removed a piece of his skull after sustaining a head injury in a freak accident. Just 10 days later, he walked out MRC’s doors on his own, and he’s already back at school at Pillow Academy.
The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation has pledged a $1 million gift to the Wilson Research Foundation at Methodist Rehabilitation Center (MRC). The gift establishes the Gertrude C. Ford Director of Motion Analysis.
Methodist’s motion analysis laboratory is used to assess patients’ function and outcomes of various treatments. The director’s position requires a rare set of skills that ranges from operating highly sophisticated equipment to having extensive knowledge of human movements.
Bride or groom’s side?
At the Oct. 26 wedding of Ben Lane and Walton Fenelon, that question may pose a predicament for guests who work at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.
Ben’s father, Sam Lane, Sr., and Walton’s mother, Kelley Fenelon, are both board members of the hospital’s Wilson Research Foundation.
And what fostered their involvement was the same thing that forged a bond between Ben and Walton—the brain injury of a loved one and their subsequent recovery at MRC.
On a misty fall afternoon, Alixus Hearn crashed her car just down the road from Northeast Lauderdale High School in Meridian.
“I was heading to the field when I heard sirens going off everywhere,” said Tyler Vick, head coach for the school’s slow pitch softball team. “The principal called and said there had been an accident. And your heart just drops.”
A right center fielder for the Trojans, Alixus is someone “everyone loved to be around,” Vick said. And it hurt to tell her teammates that she was fighting for her life.
Methodist Rehabilitation Center has announced Clinical and Support Service Employees of the Quarter for its Jackson hospital and external campuses.
For the third quarter of 2019, the honorees include Kaitlin Snyder of Pearl, physical therapist for MRC’s brain injury program; Terri McKie of Ridgeland, manager of MRC’s gift shop; Elizabeth Rich of Jackson, therapy manager at Methodist Outpatient Therapy in Ridgeland; and Frank Carucci of Meridian, an orthotics & prosthetics technician at Methodist Orthotics & Prosthetics in Meridian.
Diagnosed with a paralyzing disease she’d never heard of, Dana Kidd’s first instinct was to google the name—Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome.
Only she couldn’t grasp her phone or even tap the touchscreen.
“I had no strength,” said the 48-year-old Meridian resident. “I could only listen to what everybody told me.”
And the news wasn’t good. Doctors said the neurological disorder might leave Kidd unable to walk for nine months or more.
Methodist Rehabilitation Center has announced 2018 Clinical and Support Service Employees of the Year for its Jackson hospital and external campuses.
The honorees include Leslie Taylor of Brandon, Supervisor of Therapy Services at MRC; Kathy Kendrick of Madison, Senior Programmer Analyst for Information Services at MRC; Heather Taylor of Brandon, a registered nurse at Methodist Physical Medicine; and Maxine Jackson of Pearl, a Dietary Services cook at Methodist Specialty Care Center.