EHC Opens Rehabilitation Unit in Fort Myers, Boosts Florida Footprint

Encompass Health Corporation EHC recently inaugurated the Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Myers, a healthcare facility built as a result of its joint venture partnership with Florida-based Lee Health. The partners joined forces back in 2022 to jointly operate two inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Southwest Florida, one in Cape Coral and the other one in Fort Myers.

Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Cape Coral commenced operations almost within the targeted timeline in 2022. Initially, the Fort Myers facility was expected to be functional in 2024 but during the groundbreaking ceremony of the joint venture hospital in March 2024, the inauguration timeline was revealed to be summer 2025.

The Rehabilitation Hospital of Fort Myers is equipped with 60 beds and features private patient rooms, a modern therapy gym with cutting-edge technology, a therapy courtyard, a daily living suite, an in-house dialysis unit and several other lucrative amenities. A multidisciplinary team of specialized nurses, therapists and physicians will deliver tailored physical, occupational and speech therapies to patients recovering from strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations and complex orthopedic conditions.

Patients will benefit from at least three hours of intensive therapy five days a week, regular physician visits and 24-hour nursing support. Such enhanced rehabilitation services will enable patients to resume daily life activities and bring about improved health outcomes across the Fort Myers area.

Benefits of the Recent Move to Encompass Health

The recent partnership is reflective of EHC’s efforts to boost its presence in Florida. The company already boasts a well-established presence in the state and the Fort Myers hospital marks its 22nd facility across Florida. Lee Health, which has more than 10 decades of experience in catering to the health needs of Florida residents, seems to be the apt partner for complementing Encompass Health’s endeavor. This month itself, EHC unveiled early-stage plans to build a new 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Apollo Beach, FL.

EHC has been able to substantiate the credibility of its affordable and high-quality inpatient rehabilitative services across 38 states and Puerto Rico, as a result of which it remains the trusted partner for several healthcare providers. Joint ventures with regional healthcare providers are beneficial for Encompass Health since they serve as a means to gain an in-depth knowledge of the diversified healthcare needs of a particular region. 

The latest hospital opening takes the overall count of Encompass Health’s inpatient rehabilitation hospitals to 168. The company follows a remarkable expansion endeavor of opening such facilities throughout the year. An increase in the facility count is likely to provide an opportunity for EHC to treat more patients and bring higher revenues. Revenues improved 10.6% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. Management estimates operating revenues to lie between $5.85 billion and $5.925 billion for 2025, the midpoint of which indicates a 9.6% rise from the 2024 reported figure.

EHC’s Share Price Performance & Zacks Rank

Shares of Encompass Health have gained 42.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 5.7%. EHC currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the Medical space are CorMedix Inc. CRMD, BioLife Solutions, Inc. BLFS and Integer Holdings Corporation ITGR, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CorMedix’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 25.82%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRMD’s 2025 earnings is pegged at 93 cents per share. A loss of 30 cents per share was incurred in the prior year.  The consensus mark for revenues indicates a nearly  four-fold increase from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for CRMD’s earnings has moved 40.9% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of BioLife Solutions outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 112.90%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BLFS’ 2025 earnings is pegged at 2 cents per share. A loss of 7 cents per share was incurred in the prior year. BLFS witnessed one upward estimate revision for 2025 earnings against none downward over the past 30 days. 

Integer’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 2.77%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITGR’s 2025 earnings indicates a rise of 19.4% from the prior-year tally. The consensus mark for revenues indicates a 7.7% increase from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for ITGR’s earnings has moved up 1.1% in the past seven days. 

Shares of CorMedix and BioLife Solutions have gained 143% and 3.1%, respectively, in the past year. However, Integer stock has declined 1.5% in the same time frame.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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