The Legacy of Irene Hollis

Article Outline

• Copyright

With the recent passing in March of Irene Hollis, one of the true giants of hand therapy, who along with Erle Peacock and John Madden founded the world's first hand rehabilitation center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, we are reminded of Ms. Hollis' huge contribution not only to hand therapy and splinting in particular, but also to the maturing of our profession at large. As others of this pioneering generation fall we are naturally saddened as each is called home, but mixed with our sorrow there must be an accompanying swell of pride in their accomplishments and the strength of the profession they have left behind as their legacy to us.

When Hollis et al. first struck out in response to the traumas of World War II, the concept of the CHT credential was far from anyone's mind. Today the ranks of CHTs has swollen to about 4,200 worldwide, plus an unknown number of others practicing hand therapy around the world. We are no longer babes in the woods; the ASHT is 28 years old, the JHT 18 years old, and the first class of CHTs took the original certification examination in 1991. This fall in San Antonio, the ASHT annual meeting will be a joint meeting with the ASSH, a tremendous step forward. In 2007, the sixth triannual international federation meeting will be held in Sydney, Australia. As Bonnie Olivett said in her Nathalie Barr Lecture, “Look how far we've come,” and that was in 1992.

While we can rightfully savor the sweet smell of success, let us not become smug in this success. This profession cannot run on autopilot. We still need the zeal and vision of those early leaders to push hand therapy into the future. Complacency will only allow competitive interests to marginalize us. Without naming names, we can readily think of various interests out there that would gladly take over our patients, or reduce our reimbursement, or diminish our stand in the medical community.

What then should our response be to the maturing of our founding generation, beyond “thank you for showing us the way”? From my vantage point as one of the rapidly maturing, it appears, not in a fog, but in the clear light of day that what is needed is for the next generation(s) to catch the Hollis spirit and carry on the tradition. That tradition is marked by bold initiatives, creative solutions to clinical problems, forging collegial relationships with surgeons, teaching, and writing scientific papers … in a word, leadership.

Until the next generation of leaders emerges and assumes the mantle of leadership, our profession's future is not secure. To a great extent such leadership has to flow from a commitment to volunteerism, a word that is not much in vogue nowadays. When George Bush, the Elder, tried to invoke it in the early 90s, it was not met with much enthusiasm. Now I am suggesting it again for the sake of hand therapy. The contemporary marketplace is saturated with those seeking financial remuneration for every hour they put into a professional activity. Do you think that Irene Hollis was paid for every hour she spent in the clinic, at home reading and writing, in the classroom, and behind the podium in the name of hand therapy?

This is the legacy of Irene Hollis. As it reads on the eloquent plaque outside the auditorium of the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, let us “Go forth and do likewise”.

• 
  • View Large Image
  • Download to PowerPoint