Select Specialty Hospital - Memphis

09/13/2025

A traumatic car crash left Zecharias “Z” McKinney with a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. He needed help just to sit upright in bed and he wondered how this injury would affect life ahead. Z arrived at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation - Dallas feeling little hope. But despair turned to determination when he started working with the hospital’s care team. They helped him rebuild strength, taught him mobility strategies and rekindled his hope for the future.

To learn more about Select Medical’s network of hospitals, visit: https://www.selectmedical.com/about-us/

A traumatic car crash left Zecharias “Z” McKinney with a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. He came to Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation - Dallas to learn how to live independently.

09/11/2025

Never Forget.

09/10/2025

Some patients watch the clock for a special moment—regular food day.

A speech-language pathologist at Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, remembers a patient who pushed himself every day to improve his swallowing ability. He started by digesting thin liquids and advanced to slowly chewing and swallowing solids all toward one tasty goal: his wife’s lasagna. Once he passed his swallowing tests and got care team approval, his wife brought it to him along with a slice of homemade peach pie.

Another speech-language pathologist at Northshore Rehabilitation Hospital in Lacombe, Louisiana, helped a patient practice swallowing like it was an Olympic event. His payoff: a trip to the hospital’s annual crawfish boil. Peeling the crawfish was a chance to exercise his fine motor skills. But eating them? The pure bliss of a hard-won, gold medal.

Sometimes an injury to the back or neck comes between food-loving patients and their nosh of choice.

Spinal cord injuries – particularly in the C1 and C2 vertebrae at the base of the skull – can cause dysphagia, or an inability to swallow. About 41% of people with quadriplegia suffer difficulty swallowing, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Often the problems are temporary and caused by inflammation after surgery. Doctors often perform assessments to find muscles not doing their jobs.
If they spot muscle weaknesses, therapists can apply a range of techniques to address those muscle deficiencies. Patients may do chin tucks against resistance or move food around their mouth differently to compensate for weaknesses. There’s even a device that operates like a bench press for your tongue—resistance training which builds the muscles that move food from mouth to throat.

Most of all, therapists ask patients to practice swallowing.
Often it takes plenty of practice to get back to solid food. Patients start with liquidized food, move to pureed, minced-and-moist, soft and bite-sized, easy-to-chew and finally … regular foods, that special moment.

09/09/2025

Respiratory therapists (RTs) are frequently part of the care team for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients in our critical illness recovery hospitals. Depending on the level of injury or loss of function, RTs provide:
• Tracheostomy and ventilator support
• Breathing exercises
• Oxygen and secretion management

RTs are heavily involved in treating patients with significant loss of function, or where the SCI interferes with the muscles involved in breathing. Therapists will work to free the patient from the ventilator, or if that isn’t achievable, reduce dependence on the device to the lowest level possible.

As part of the care team, RTs also help with returning a patient’s voice using a speaking valve, assist with the mobility of ventilated patients and manage oxygen levels during intense physical and occupational therapy sessions.

RTs play a key role in patient and family training as well, teaching tracheostomy care and secretion management techniques.

09/06/2025

After collapsing in his bathroom, doctors diagnosed Bobby Smith with osteomyelitis of the thoracic vertebrae, a rare infection of the spine that causes the bone to weaken. After spinal surgery, Bobby spent three weeks recovering in the ICU before transitioning to Select Specialty Hospital - West Tennessee. There, a physician-led care team developed a personalized treatment plan to help Bobby recover from his spinal cord injury and get one step closer to returning home.

To learn more about Select Medical’s network of hospitals, visit: https://www.selectmedical.com/about-us/

Bobby Smith, 52, underwent spinal surgery after a bacterial infection weakened his vertebrae. He spent three weeks recovering in the ICU, unable to move, stand up or walk. To help him return to his feet, Bobby was transferred to Select Specialty Hospital - West Tennessee. There he would complete a c...

09/05/2025

Stacy Wilhelm was a busy teacher, author, wife and mother before complications following heart surgery landed her in an intensive care unit. Stacy was in and out of consciousness for five weeks, lost her left hand and several times, her family steeled themselves for the worst. Stacy never gave up. When she finally stabilized, she turned to the multidisciplinary team at Select Specialty Hospital - Dallas Plano to help her relearn to breathe, eat, talk and get back on her feet. Stacy’s grit and hard work paid off when she danced with her son at his wedding.

Read her story here: https://bit.ly/480SuhR

09/04/2025

For those living with a spinal cord injury (SCI), most want to know how their quality of life will change.

Our teams are often asked:
“When can I resume doing what I love to do?”
“Will I be able to return to school or work?”

Through our personalized treatment plans for every SCI patient, our therapy and clinical teams create a foundation of skills to support the entire recovery journey. We focus on stretches, weight shifts in wheelchairs and joint range of motion exercises just to name a few. These skills help to set up our patients for achieving their recovery goals following injury.

This month, we’ll be highlighting our “Back to Basics” series, covering each care team member’s role in a SCI patient’s journey.

09/02/2025

September marks Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Awareness Month. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, approximately 17,000 Americans acquire an SCI each year.

No two SCIs are the same, and a patient’s outcome can vary based on a number of factors, including the level of early intervention care and intensive rehabilitation.

Throughout SCI Awareness Month, we’ll be introducing a “Back to Basics” series, sharing information about SCI and how our care teams support patients as they work to recover as much function as possible.

09/01/2025

This Labor Day, we extend our gratitude to all health care professionals who dedicate themselves to the care of their patients and the well-being of the communities they serve.

08/26/2025

Laz Reeder’s surgical complications caused respiratory failure so severe that a ventilator’s highest settings couldn’t deliver enough oxygen. Laz, 35, was then connected to ECMO, a specialized life support. As his wife Sierra waited and prayed by his side, family cared for their infant daughter. One month later, Laz was healing but still fed through tubes, too weak to care for himself and unable to walk more than a few steps. He and Sierra turned to Select Specialty Hospital - Pensacola and its inpatient rehabilitation, Select Medical Rehabilitation - Pensacola, to continue his recovery. Today, Laz is home, back to work and enjoying his family.

Read his story here: https://bit.ly/4fV8ynu

08/06/2025

The team at Select Specialty Hospital – Memphis East celebrated at midnight last Friday when the hospital officially joined Select Medical’s national network of post-acute specialty hospitals.

The 30-bed hospital, located within Baptist Memorial Hospital, will care for patients recovering from critical illness or injury, helping them to breathe, eat, walk, talk and think clearly again. Select Specialty Hospital – Memphis East joins Select Specialty Hospital - Memphis in serving the post-acute care needs of the Mid-South.

07/04/2025

We wish you and your family a safe and happy Fourth of July.

06/19/2025

Today, we acknowledge the importance of Juneteenth, which commemorates the abolition of slavery.

09/19/2024

Marguerite Thompson's heart had stopped beating, starving her brain of the oxygen-rich blood it needed to survive. Immediate medical attention saved her life, but Marguerite was left bed bound and dependent on a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube for nutrition. She remained this way for eight years. When her source of oxygen was compromised, Marguerite was once more rushed to the hospital. After battling two infections and high blood pressure, Marguerite was stabilized and her family recognized the opportunity to get her off of the mechanical ventilator for good. For that, they transferred her to Select Specialty Hospital - Memphis where a physician-led care team implemented a personalized care plan to help Marguerite achieve that goal.

Read Marguerite's story here: https://bit.ly/3ZxadJz

03/05/2024

If you or a loved one experienced a brain injury, intense therapy can play a vital role in recovery and help get you back to an independent lifestyle.

Meet some of our brain injury patients who not only survived, but thrived.

To learn more about Select Medical’s network of hospitals, visit: https://www.selectmedical.com/about-us/

03/01/2024

March is Brain Injury Awareness month. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, someone in the United States sustains a brain injury every nine seconds. A brain injury can affect how a person thinks, acts and feels.

Brain injuries can result from an outside force to the head, known as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), or an internal cause – known as a non-traumatic brain injury (NTBI).

Learn more about the difference between a TBI and NTBI below, and check back throughout the month as we spotlight brain injury and how we help people recover.

02/05/2024

The determination and hard work exhibited by patients eager to return home after injury or illness is an inspirational experience.
Take it from our colleagues as they explain why working with patients is a privilege.

02/01/2024

February marks American Heart Month, a time to raise more awareness for heart health and cardiovascular diseases.

Select Medical admits a range of cardiac rehabilitation patients recovering from a variety of conditions, including heart failure, cardiomyopathy (heart issues making it hard to pump blood) and cardiac surgery, including heart transplants. Our interdisciplinary teams – including physicians, nurses and therapists – develop individualized treatment plans focused on post-surgical healing, dietary and medication education and restoring strength and endurance. The goal is to avoid cardiac complications and provide patients with the skills, strategies and techniques needed for independent and heart-healthy lives.

02/01/2024

Every patient’s journey toward independence is a unique experience. We are proud to have been a part of yours.

During National Patient Recognition Week, we thank all our patients for entrusting us with their care.

01/15/2024

12/31/2023

New Years is a time to set and reach for new goals. We hope you attain all you aspire to this year.

Happy holidays from Select Medical.

12/06/2023

Cold and flu season is here.

A simple wash goes a long way.

Let’s keep our hands clean and help ensure a healthy community.

12/01/2023

Peace. Joy. Happiness.

Happy holidays from Select Medical.

11/30/2023

Select Salutes our Veterans

This Veterans Month we're spotlighting colleagues who have served our nation.

Their skills and commitment to our patients makes them an essential part of Select Medical. We are proud to have them as part of our team.