What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy enables people across the lifespan to participate in daily living tasks. Life is made up of many occupational- meaningful everyday tasks. These occupations can be many roles, such as being a parent, a student, an athlete, or a cook. We typically do not think about our everyday activities until we have trouble doing them. Everyone has occupations- for a toddler, it is play and learning developmental skills. For an older adult it is engaging with friends and family and managing his or her home. Occupational Therapy can help anyone of any age achieve goals, whether it is recovering from an injury or illness, wanting to maintain or gain skills with a developmental disability, or simply not being able to participate in meaningful everyday activities, OT can help you!
– meaningful everyday tasks. These occupations can be many roles, such as being a parent, a student, an athlete, or a cook. We typically do not think about our everyday activities until we have trouble doing them. Everyone has occupations- for a toddler, it is play and learning developmental skills. For an older adult it is engaging with friends and family and managing his or her home. Occupational Therapy can help anyone of any age achieve goals, whether it is recovering from an injury or illness, wanting to maintain or gain skills with a developmental disability, or simply not being able to participate in meaningful everyday activities, OT can help you!
Meet the Team
Tammy Pagan OTR/L – Tammy is an Occupational Therapist who has been practicing for 35.5 years. Tammy primarily sees patients at Outpatient OT at the Tyler Center. She is married with 2 children and 1 granddaughter. Tammy loves to garden and redo furniture/rooms in her house. She enjoys working with patients and seeing them gain independence with self-care. She also enjoys mentoring students.
Diane Stargell OTR/L – Diane is an Occupational Therapist who sees patients at both RMC and Stringfellow. She has practiced for 27 years. Her and her husband Jamie have 4 children and 1 grandchild. Diane enjoys being outside, cooking, and shopping. Her favorite thing to collect is gnomes. Her future plans are to work towards retirement.
Emma Downs OTR/L – Emma is an Occupational Therapist who sees patients at both RMC and Stringfellow. She is a fairly new grad and has been practicing for almost a year. Emma and her husband have a fur baby named Winnie. She enjoys painting, reading, and going to thrift stores. A fun fact about Emma is that her husband played professional baseball and she was able to travel with him to see different fields around the US. Emma’s future plans consist of her and her husband purchasing a house.
Jennifer Worley OTR/L, ATC – Jennifer is an Occupational Therapist who is PRN and sees patients at whichever location is needed. Jennifer has been practicing for 20 years. Jennifer and her husband Brian have a son, Cash, who is a junior in high school, and a daughter, Taylor, who is in eighth grade. She enjoys spending time on Logan Martin Lake, gardening, and studying antiques. A fun fact about Jennifer is that during college she backpacked through Europe on less than 40 dollars a day. Jennifer’s future plans are to keep people guessing, one never knows what’s next!
Katie Howell OTR/L – Katie is an Occupational Therapist who primarily sees patients at our outpatient clinic. She has been practicing for 2.5 years. Katie loves to read, run, ski, hike, and participate in anything outdoors. Katie enjoys working with both children and adult populations. She is constantly learning something new and enjoys seeing the progress that each patient makes!
Jodi Herren OTR/L – Jodi is an Occupational Therapist who sees patients at our outpatient clinic at the Tyler Center. Jodi has been practicing for 7 years. She is married to her husband Cole and has three daughters: Harper, Emmy, and Reese. She loves to travel and holds a certificate in Ayres Sensory Integration.
Olivia G. Parsons BS, COTA/L – Olivia is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant who sees patients at RMC, Stringfellow, and at our outpatient clinic. She has been practicing for almost 4 years. Olivia has a boyfriend named John and when she is not working, she enjoys CrossFit, golfing, and gardening. Olivia loves to travel and plans to do more of it in the future.
Shane Johnson COTA/L – Shane is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. Shane has been practicing for 4 years and sees patients on a variety of floors in the hospital. You may see him on Ortho, LTACH, Oncology, or unit 8. Shane and his wife Brea have 2 children: Crimson (Evan) and Jacob (Regan). He also has 2 grandchildren Lacy and Kingslee and one on the way. Shane enjoys raising reptiles. A fun fact about Shane is that he played in The Million Dollar Band at the University of Alabama. Shane plans to continue working and wants to travel with his wife.
Melinda Ward COTA/L – Melinda is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant at the RMC campus. She has been practicing for 6 years. Her and her husband Nathan have been married for 7 years and have a 2-year-old son. Melinda knew at the age of 16 she wanted to work in OT while volunteering at a special needs daycare.
Her plans are to continue to work towards special certifications to further her career.