One of the nation's largest rehabilitation hospital chains will put its name on Chattanooga's first inpatient rehab hospital next week.
HealthSouth Chattanooga Rehabilitation Hospital on McCallie Avenue will be renamed Wednesday to the Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Chattanooga - one of 10 HealthSouth hospitals in Tennessee to take on the Encompass name next week.
The 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital, its services and its 80-person staff will not change, hospital CEO Scott Rowe said.
The name change, which began at other HealthSouth hospitals last year, comes as the chain expands nationwide and is designed to give better brand recognition for the hospitals and home health care services provided by HealthSouth and Encompass Home Health and Hospice since the two companies merged in 2014.
Encompass operates home health care agencies in the area on Mountain Creek Road and in Cleveland, Tennessee.
"Our new Encompass Health brand reflects more than the change of our name," Rowe said. "It reinforces our commitment to working together to continuously improve the care we provide our patients. With a focus on clinical collaboration and strengthening relationships, we will continue to play an important role in making a difference in the lives of our patients."
The name change comes five years after HealthSouth spent $12.5 million to upgrade and expand its hospital, which dates back to 1969 when Hospital Corp. of America built its Diagnostic Hospital, which was later acquired by HealthSouth.
In the continuum of health care, hospitals such as Encompass are usually the second stop in the road to recovery from a stroke, disabling injury or major orthopedic surgery. After trauma care and surgery at an acute care hospital, many patients continue their recovery at rehab hospitals. The average length of a hospital stay at HealthSouth is 12 to 14 days.
HealthSouth is the largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation facilities and the fourth largest provider of home rehab services. The name change was made after research found little brand recognition and some confusion over the link between the two names for the inpatient care side of the business and the home-based services division.
"Our research suggests that our outside constituencies have not consistently perceived the link between our inpatient and home-based segments," HealthSouth President and CEO Mark Tarr said when the name change was first announced in 2017. "These considerations contributed to the conclusion that a single, strong brand would more effectively achieve our business goals."
Encompass Health, which provides rehabilitation care to about one third of all inpatient hospital rehab patients, provides rehabilitative care to patients recovering from stroke and other neurological disorders, orthopedic, cardiac and pulmonary conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries, complex orthopedic conditions and amputations.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340