PETAL, Miss.—When Brett Hornick logs on to Methodist Rehabilitation Center’s new Web site he’ll be able to read the latest health and research news from the only hospital in Mississippi that offers comprehensive medical rehabilitation programs for people with spinal cord and brain injuries, stroke and other neurological and orthopedic disorders.

But the former Methodist Rehab patient might be more interested in a story about his own remarkable recovery.

After suffering a spinal cord injury in a bike accident in 2000, Hornick was admitted to Methodist Rehab to participate in a new therapy--treadmill gait training—that has been used to help some spinal cord injured patients learn to walk again.

For several months the Petal teen trained on the treadmill, working with a team of researchers and therapists. Today, thanks in part to the new therapy, the 16 year-old is walking with a cane.
Brett’s story and more than 100 others like it are among the news releases and feature articles that are the focus of Methodist Rehab’s news-based Web site.

“Our new Web site has all the things you’d expect,” said Mark Adams, president and CEO of the Jackson Hospital. “But it’s the stories of patients overcoming great odds and researchers and physicians committed to finding cures that will draw visitors to the site.”

In addition to the site’s strong focus on human interest and research stories, it also includes information about the hospital’s programs and services, upcoming events, contact and employment information, streaming video and audio, the latest issue of the hospital’s magazine, Ways & Means, and a resource guide with links to other Web sites.

“Our writers are committed to updating this site daily as they add news releases and feature stories, photos and information about Think First, our statewide safety and injury prevention program,” said public relations director Jim Albritton. “The site is designed for patients and former patients and anyone interested in health, medical or research news or in stories of courage and determination.”

There are several ways to get to Methodist Rehab’s new site. It can be accessed at www.methodistonline.org or www.methodistrehab.org.

“Phase one of the Web site is now online and we’ve already started working on an expanded research section that will include an online medical journal and other information that may be useful to researchers in other parts of the world,” said Albritton. “As the site grows, we plan to offer practical information about how to avoid sports injuries, ways to lead a more healthy life and how to safely take prescribed drugs.