Encompass Health facts for kids
 |
|
|
Formerly
|
HealthSouth Corporation |
|---|---|
| Public company | |
| Traded as |
|
| Industry | Healthcare |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Richard M. Scrushy |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | Rehabilitation |
| Revenue |  US$5.373 billion (2024) |
|
Number of employees
|
40,200 (2024) |
Encompass Health Corporation is a big healthcare company. It is based in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States. The company helps people get better after injuries or illnesses.
Encompass Health runs many rehabilitation hospitals. These hospitals are in 38 states and Puerto Rico. They help patients recover from things like strokes, brain injuries, or broken bones. The company used to have a home health and hospice business. This part of the company became a separate company called Enhabit in 2022.
Many groups have recognized Encompass Health. Fortune magazine has called it one of the "World's Most Admired Companies." Modern Healthcare said it was one of the "Best Places to Work." Also, Forbes magazine listed it as one of the "Most Trusted Companies in America."
Contents
Company History
Starting Out
Encompass Health began as Amcare, Inc. on February 22, 1984. It was started in Birmingham, Alabama by Richard M. Scrushy and four other people. At first, it offered physical therapy services. Richard Scrushy thought of the idea in 1983. He saw that more people needed physical therapy. He also noticed that hospitals wanted to save money. Offering therapy outside of a hospital could be cheaper.
Scrushy and his co-founders put in $50,000 to start the company. Another company, Citicorp Venture Capital, gave them $1 million. Scrushy became the main leader, the chairman and CEO. The company opened its first therapy center in Little Rock, Arkansas. A second center opened in Birmingham later that year.
The company changed its name to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Corporation in 1985. This new name helped it stand out. In 1986, HealthSouth bought its first inpatient rehabilitation hospital. This means patients could stay overnight. Later that year, the company offered its shares to the public. This was called an initial public offering (IPO).
In 1989, HealthSouth moved its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange. It also bought a hospital in Birmingham called South Highlands Hospital. This hospital focused on orthopedics, which is about bones and joints. This purchase helped HealthSouth become known for sports medicine. The hospital worked with famous surgeons like Dr. James Andrews. This success led HealthSouth to work with many other top orthopedic surgeons.
Growing Bigger
HealthSouth grew steadily in its early years. It opened new centers and bought smaller companies. By 1990, it had 50 centers across the U.S. By 1992, it made $400 million each year. In 1993, HealthSouth bought 28 hospitals and 45 therapy centers from another company. This made HealthSouth twice as big. It became the largest provider of rehabilitation services in the country.
The company kept growing fast in the mid-1990s. It dropped "Rehabilitation" from its name in 1994. It became simply HealthSouth Corporation. That same year, it started offering diagnostic imaging services. This includes things like X-rays. In 1995, HealthSouth also entered the ambulatory surgery center business. These centers do surgeries where patients go home the same day. After buying more surgery centers, HealthSouth became the largest provider of outpatient surgery.
In 1997, HealthSouth made its biggest purchase of the 1990s. It bought Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp for $1.8 billion. This company had many rehabilitation hospitals. HealthSouth continued to add more surgery centers. By 1999, HealthSouth had over 2,000 facilities. These were in all 50 states. It was one of the biggest healthcare providers in the U.S. The company also expanded to other countries. These included the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico.
By the late 1990s, HealthSouth's growth from buying other companies slowed down. In 2001, the company sold its occupational health business. Later that year, HealthSouth planned to build a new "Digital Hospital" in Birmingham. This hospital would use the latest technology. However, construction stopped two years later because of a big problem at the company.
Company Challenges
In 2003, a major problem was discovered at HealthSouth. The company's leader, Richard Scrushy, and other top executives were accused of doing something wrong. They were said to have reported false earnings. This means they made the company's money look better than it was. This was done to meet what people on Wall Street expected.
Two executives told the FBI about the problem. The company worked with the government to fix things. The board of directors quickly took action. The entire top management team, including Scrushy, was replaced. HealthSouth's stock was removed from the New York Stock Exchange for a time. The company worked hard to fix its financial records. It was later found that a large amount of money was involved in the problem between 1996 and 2003.
Getting Back on Track
From 2003 to 2006, HealthSouth worked to fix its problems. Jay Grinney became the new president and CEO in 2004. New financial and operations leaders also joined. The company sold or closed centers that were not doing well. It also got rid of things that were not needed, like most of its corporate jets.
In 2006, HealthSouth sold its main medical center in Birmingham. This marked the end of its time running orthopedic-focused hospitals. The company also sold other hospitals. On May 15, 2006, HealthSouth caught up with all the rules for public companies. It then announced a plan to focus only on its inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. This meant selling its surgery, outpatient, and diagnostic divisions. In October, HealthSouth's stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange again.
In 2007, HealthSouth sold its outpatient business. It also sold its surgery center division and its diagnostic division. These sales helped the company focus on its main goal. In 2008, HealthSouth sold its corporate headquarters campus. It also sold the land where the unfinished "Digital Hospital" was. The incomplete hospital eventually became Grandview Medical Center.
Recent Company Growth
After selling off other parts of its business, HealthSouth focused on its inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. For seven years, the company grew this part of its business. It built new hospitals and bought others from different healthcare systems. In 2014, HealthSouth bought Encompass Home Health & Hospice. This helped the company expand its home health and hospice services. It continued to buy more home health and hospice companies in the following years.
In 2015, HealthSouth bought Reliant Hospital Partners for $730 million. This added 11 more inpatient rehabilitation hospitals. This purchase made HealthSouth even stronger as the largest provider of inpatient rehabilitation.
Jay Grinney retired as CEO at the end of 2016. He had worked for the company for 12 years. Many people say he helped the company recover after its past problems. Mark Tarr, who had worked at HealthSouth for a long time, became the new CEO in January 2017. One year later, the company changed its name to Encompass Health Corporation. This new name brought all its services under one name. The home health and hospice business became a separate company called Enhabit in July 2022.
Former Related Companies
- Capstone Capital Corporation — A company that invested in real estate, started by HealthSouth.
- Diagnostic Health Corporation — This was HealthSouth's diagnostic imaging division.
- Enhabit — This was HealthSouth's home health and hospice division.
- MedPartners — A company that managed doctor's offices, started with HealthSouth's help. It later became part of CVS Health.
- SourceMedical Solutions — A software company for clinical programs, started by HealthSouth.
- Surgical Care Affiliates — This was HealthSouth's surgery center division.
