September of 2026 New Hires

We're pleased to introduce September's stupendous new hires! Congratulations to our new Employee Partners--we're excited to welcome you to the Mid South family.

Amy Allison

Speech Language Pathologist at Sharkey-Issaquena Nursing Home

Amy Allison attended Berwick High School and later received her undergraduate degree from Nicholls State University. She graduated cum laude with a master's degree in Communicative Disorders from Baylor University. Amy also holds a master’s degree in teaching, spending 13 years of her career teaching elementary school. Amy enjoys helping patients find their confidence and voice. She has a special interest in addressing dysphagia, as well as voice and cognition difficulties. 

Ty Ashley

Physical Therapist - South MS Floater

Ty Ashley attended Union Academy in Georgetown, Mississippi, and later received his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi in 1985. He obtained his degree to become a physical therapist from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1999. Ty has 27 years of experience as a physical therapist in a variety of healthcare settings. He has worked for Mid South over the course of his career in several of our strategic partner facilities. We are so excited to have Ty back on our Mid South team in a full-time floater role, serving several of our South Mississippi partners including Simpson General Hospital, Magee General Hospital, Covington County Hospital, and Arrington Living Center. Ty has been married for 41 years—he and his wife have two sons, who have blessed them with three precious grandchildren. 

Shelby Clem

Office Manager at Bolivar Medical Center

Shelby Clem attended North Sunflower Academy in Drew, Mississippi, and later attended Mississippi Delta Community College. She has been passionate about healthcare since high school with a lifelong passion for helping others. Outside of work, Shelby enjoys spending time with her family, watching sunsets, and making memories with her people and pets. Shelby is looking forward to making a positive difference for her team and the patients at Bolivar Medical Center.

Krista Green

Physical Therapist at Noxubee General Hospital

Born and raised in a small town in central North Dakota, Celine Craig attended the University of North Dakota before training to become a paramedic. Celine relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to work for the new third service EMS in East Baton Rouge Parish, and she quickly moved into a supervisory role. 

Her newfound passion for human resources led Celine to complete her bachelor’s degree at Louisiana State University—a season where she worked and attended school full time. After graduation, Celine worked as the Director of EMS in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She was honored to work at King’s Daughters Medical Center and create an impressive double paramedic Advanced Life Support service. Eventually, Celine worked as the Human Resources Director at King’s Daughters, helping professionals grow and improve. She credits her time of service there as foundational to the leader she is today.

Since April of 2023, Celine worked as a Director of Human Resources for UMMC Grenada/Lexington hospitals. She and her husband, Jim, who retired from 30 years working in the health department in 2023, raised their five children (1 boy, 4 girls) in Brookhaven. The couple is active in their church and community, and they love traveling and attending Ole Miss football games.

Peyton Farmer

Physical Therapist at Neshoba General Hospital and Nursing Home

Peyton Farmer attended Philadelphia High School and graduated from Mississippi State University’s Meridian Branch. She is a recent graduate of William Carey’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program and takes special interest in geriatric patients. Peyton is certified in Rock Steady Boxing, which is an exercise program curriculum designed to Fight Back against the effects of Parkinson’s disease. Peyton chose a career in physical therapy because she enjoys helping people regain their independence and return to the activities that are meaningful to them. Her hobbies include making jewelry, drawing, painting, and spending time with family. Peyton is engaged, and the couple shares two dogs. 

Amber Johnson

Physical Therapist at Azalea Gardens Nursing Center

Amber Johnson attended Aberdeen High School in Aberdeen, Mississippi, and later received her undergraduate degree from The Mississippi University for Women. She recently graduated from William Carey University with her Doctor of Physical Therapy and has a passion for treating geriatric patients. Amber is committed to providing compassionate, patient-centered care. Her hobbies include reading and exercising.

Lexi Mitchell

Speech Language Pathologist at 360 Total Rehab in Flowood

Lexi Mitchell attended Lee Academy in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and later received her undergraduate degree from Delta State University. She graduated from The University of Mississippi with her Master's of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Lexi chose a career in speech therapy because she’s passionate about helping her patients, especially children, learn, grow, and reach new milestones. She likes to make therapy fun and something her patients look forward to attending. Outside of work, Lexi likes going to the gym, walking, shopping, and spending time with family and friends. Lexi is looking forward to making an impact on her patients at 360 Total Rehab in Flowood and growing as a clinician in the process.

Meagan Poole

Physical Therapist at Copiah County Medical Center

Meagan Poole attended Loyd Star Attendance Center in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and later received her undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University. Meagan graduated from William Carey University with her Doctor of Physical Therapy. Growing up in sports sparked her passion for movement, performance, and rehabilitation, which ultimately shaped her decision to pursue physical therapy as a career. When she is not in the clinic, Meagan loves spending time with family and friends and playing tennis and hiking.

Jessica Taylor

Physical Therapist Assistant

Jessica Taylor attended Plainview High School in Rainsville, Alabama, and later completed degrees from Northeast Alabama Community College and Wallace State Community College. Jessica has special interest in geriatrics, pelvic floor issues, and pain science therapy. She chose a career in physical therapy because she loves how humans were designed to heal with movement and watching the progression of healing. Jessica is a mother of two and loves plants and gardening. 

Congratulations to our new team members! We are wishing you blessings and great joy in this new chapter.

The Essential Role of Therapy in Long Term Care Facilities: A Call to Compassionate Care

By JR Burnett, BBA, DPT, RCD Mid South

I am honored to get the opportunity to write these articles twice a year to share things the Lord has put on my heart. In a recent trip to a nursing home partner, I was able to evaluate 5 patients that needed therapy services. I saw tears of joy and appreciation in several of the patients and their families, and it made me truly think deeply about the essential nature of what we do for long-term care residents. Physical, occupational, and speech therapy services stand as vital pillars of dignified, holistic care for all ages. For elderly residents in long term care facilities facing mobility limitations, cognitive decline, or communication barriers, our services are not mere luxuries but essential services that restore function, foster independence, and honor the God-given value of every human life.

“A resident who regains partial mobility after physical therapy may never run a marathon, but that small victory sparks hope, dignity, and renewed purpose.” - JR Burnett

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who heals the sick and comforts the afflicted, we recognize that providing such care reflects His command to love our neighbors as ourselves and to walk as He walked while on this Earth.

For patients, the benefits are profound. Physical therapy strengthens muscles, restores joint function and health, reduces pain, encourages healthier gait patterns, regains postural deficits, improves balance, reduces fall risks, and establishes appropriate assistive devices enabling residents to move with greater confidence and less pain. Occupational therapy helps individuals relearn daily tasks—dressing, eating, or using adaptive tools—preserving independence and dignity. Speech therapy addresses swallowing difficulties and communication challenges, preventing isolation and malnutrition, as well as helping patients with memory and cognitive challenges. And this is just scratching the surface. Together, these interventions yield physical improvements, but they extend far deeper and wider than that. Emotionally, successful therapy sessions combat depression and anxiety by celebrating small victories and rebuilding self-worth. Spiritually, they create opportunities for prayerful encouragement and remind residents of God’s sustaining presence in their lives. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, therapists and caregivers can fill sessions with hope, motivation, encouragement, and human touch that the residents and their families are all craving deep down to their core.

When we work with their loved ones, families experience tremendous relief and renewed connections. Witnessing a loved one regain the ability to dance in their room, feed themselves or converse clearly eases their emotional burdens and sometimes feelings of helplessness that can come when we see our loved ones age. One of the reasons I became a therapist was seeing my own grandmother, Frannie, be motivated to participate in care after she had several strokes while suffering from small vessel disease. Therapy made her and our family feel as if it was not the end—that we had a fighting chance for recovery even while still on this earth that helped us look forward to the final recovery we as followers of Christ will receive when we see Jesus face to face.

For long-term care facility workers, effective therapy programs reduce injury risks from lifting or managing dependent patients, lower burnout, and create a more rewarding workplace culture centered on progress rather than giving over to a slow decline. We can be a part of fostering a culture of living instead of a culture of slow death. When therapy succeeds, staff get re-infused with purpose and compassion.

On the flip side, withholding therapy services from those who need them constitutes a serious disservice. It condemns residents to unnecessary decline, robs them of potential joy, and contradicts the Biblical call to care for the vulnerable. Denying therapy accelerates dependency, increases medical complications, fall risks, fractures, contractures, loss of freedom, surgeries, rehospitalizations, and diminishes quality of life for residents. It also causes families and staff to shoulder heavier loads. In a society that sometimes prioritizes ease and cost over compassion, this neglect dishonors the image of God in every elderly person.

I truly believe it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Just as opening one’s heart to love carries the risk of loss but also holds the opportunity for immeasurable richness, it is better to have tried therapy and achieved even minimum improvements than not to have tried at all. A resident who regains partial mobility after physical therapy may never run a marathon, but that small victory sparks hope, dignity, and renewed purpose. The emotional lift from speaking a few clearer words or completing a simple task can bring a feeling of joy to a life shrouded in frustration. To withhold therapy out of fear of limited results is cowardice, the lazy way out, and it rejects the risk of love entirely. In Christ’s name, we are called to try, to persist, and to trust God with the outcomes. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (Gal 6:9). God determines the due season, the fruit, the outcomes, and our call is not to grow weary in doing good. Therapists, DO NOT GROW WEARY!! You have a mighty call to perform self-sacrificial love day in and day out to all of these patients.

Improving patients physically, emotionally, and spiritually can be greatly helped by the intentional integration of therapy services, and for the believer who has the opportunity to work with us at Mid South Rehab, we also get the honor and privilege to pour ourselves out in this way with faith-centered care. Facilities should prioritize consistent therapy access, train staff in compassionate techniques, and partner with us to change the lives of their residents, residents’ families, and all other interdisciplinary teams. By embracing this approach, we fulfill Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation one patient encounter at a time.

Ultimately, therapy in long-term care facilities embodies love in action. It declares that every life holds sacred worth and is worthy of the investment of our time, our skills, our compassion, our efforts, and our care. May we be good stewards of God’s mercies and various gifts, and may we commit to pour ourselves out so that residents, families, and our facility partners may flourish in body, mind, and spirit—to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36

Highlighting the Tiffany Turney Scholarship

By Paul Evans, DPT, RCD Tennessee Region

At Mid South Rehab, we pride ourselves on being a people first, purpose driven company. This ideal is a guiding principle to the support we provide to not only our patients and employees, but also to the families. I have spoken before in this space about how intentional Mid South Rehab is as a company when it comes to supporting the career growth, education, and work life balance of our employee partners and the varied ways which we offer that support. I wanted to use this time to talk about a specific program that Mid South Rehab provides to support the families of our employee partners while also highlighting the legacy of our former employee and friend, Tiffany Turney.

The Tiffany Turney Scholarship is a program that our company established to honor and remember Tiffany’s kindness and generosity. Since 2021, we have awarded deserving high school seniors and college students of full-time employee partners this scholarship to help support their academic pursuits. This annual scholarship program rewards applicants who excel academically in high school or college, participate in extracurricular activities, engage in community service, demonstrate leadership skills, and show scholastic aptitude and work experience. This scholarship has helped a number of young students reach their academic goals and it is truly remarkable when you get to see the fruits of all that hard work come to life in part through the support offered by this program.

I wanted to highlight one student who is the son of one of our employees in the Tennessee Region, Marcia Wadley. Marcia has been a phenomenal Rehab Office Manager who has been with Mid South Rehab since 2016 and is a key part of our success in Tennessee. Marcia’s son, Alaye’, was the recipient of the Tiffany Turney Scholarship in 2022.This support was instrumental in helping with the purchase of books, academic support, and offsetting the growing cost of tuition. Alaye’ completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science in 2023 at Middle Tennessee State University. He then went on to recently complete his Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology in 2025. Currently, Alaye’ works at Carda Health Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist in the Murfreesboro area. Marcia could not be more proud of the accomplishments of her son, and it is very rewarding to see him also excel in a health-related career where he is truly using a servant’s heart to help his patients and the community.

It is really inspiring to see the growth and development of young people as they mature through life and into their chosen careers. Knowing that this scholarship program played a part in that journey is very rewarding and a big reason for the intention that Mid South Rehab places on supporting our employee partners and their families. Alaye’s journey also serves as a great example of what the Tiffany Turney Scholarship Program is all about and why it was so important for us to annually highlight her legacy and make sure we remember her example that truly embodies the spirit of Mid South Rehab.