Encompass Health Corporation EHC recently unveiled plans to construct an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The new hospital, which is to be called Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Palm Beach Gardens, will house 50 beds.

The latest move enables Encompass Health to offer improved rehabilitative care and cater to the health issues of Floridians more effectively once it starts operating in 2023, as expected.

The one-story hospital will contain private patient rooms and upgraded rehabilitation technologies through which it will deliver physical, occupational and speech therapies via well-trained nurses, therapists and physicians. As a result, patients grappling with severe illnesses and injuries will recover rapidly.

Encompass Health has been making ardent efforts to expand its presence across Florida wherein it has been offering improved inpatient rehabilitation services for three decades. It boasts of a strong Florida footprint with 13 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in place. Besides, the healthcare provider has one hospital under construction in Pensacola, which is expected to start operating this August. It has laid plans to construct seven other hospitals in the state slated to open either in 2022 or 2023.

The recent move reinforces the company’s efforts to offer affordable and high-quality rehabilitative care services, and reach every corner of the United States grappling with inaccessibility to quality care. To cater to this purpose, Encompass Health has been intensifying focus on expansion plans and opened back-to-back inpatient rehabilitation hospitals or unveiled hospital construction plans. Such initiatives are likely to drive the company’s Inpatient Rehabilitation segment, which usually contributes the most to the company’s revenues. The segment accounted for around 78% of the company’s net operating revenues during the first quarter of 2021.

Through plans similar to the latest one, the network and nationwide presence of the healthcare provider has broadened. Case in point, Encompass Health boasts of a robust portfolio comprising 140 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, 249 home health hubs and 94 hospice centers stretched across 42 states and Puerto Rico.

An aging U.S. population further reinforces the dire need for high-quality rehabilitation care. Such services seem to be of immense importance as individuals, who suffer from an injury, illness, or surgery, require a well-devised rehabilitative care. A suitable plan indeed helps patients to resume their normal daily activities and improve their quality of life.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Shares of Encompass Health, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), have gained 21.4% in a year against the industry’s decline of 16.5%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the medical space include Select Medical Holdings Corporation SEM, Magellan Health, Inc. MGLN and Hanger, Inc. HNGR. While Magellan Health sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Select Medical and Hanger carry a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Select Medical, Magellan Health and Hanger have a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 245.91%, 69.63% and 255.00%, on average, respectively.

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