US Edition
Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed
UNITED STATES, JUL 15 – Encompass Health's 168 hospitals face serious safety violations including patient deaths but avoid Medicare fines due to regulatory gaps, despite 11% net profit reported in 2024.
- On July 15, 2025, KFF Health News and The New York Times published an analysis showing serious incidents and safety issues at Encompass Health and other for-profit rehab hospitals.
- This follows a background of federal data collection from October 2021 through September 2023, revealing that for-profit rehab hospitals now admit most patients and some have higher rates of preventable readmissions and rare but grave patient harms.
- Among documented cases, a 73-year-old patient died from carbon monoxide poisoning during hospital construction, a medication error caused cardiac arrest and death, and a patient was found dead after a defective bed alarm failed to alert staff.
- Encompass operates a significant share of the nation’s rehab hospitals, reported an 11% net profit in 2024, and Patrick Darby, the company’s general counsel, described health violations as uncommon and criticized Medicare’s readmission ratings as an imprecise evaluation metric.
- Although Medicare cannot impose fines on rehabilitation hospitals for safety violations, which slows the public disclosure of issues and enforcement actions, Encompass is aiming to expand its network by establishing 17 additional facilities across nine states by the end of 2027.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Even grave errors at rehab hospitals go unpenalized and undisclosed, analysis finds
Rehab hospitals that help people recover from major surgeries and injuries have become a highly lucrative slice of the health care business. But federal data and inspection reports show that some run by the dominant company, Encompass Health Corp., and other for-profit corporations have had rare but serious incidents of patient harm and perform below average on two key safety measures tracked by Medicare.
LA Daily News
Grave errors at rehab hospitals going unpenalized and undisclosed
Medicare data shows that Encompass owns many of the rehabs with worse rates of potentially preventable, unplanned readmissions to general hospitals.
kffhealthnews.org
Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed
Rehab hospitals that help people recover from major surgeries and injuries have become a highly lucrative slice of the health care business. But federal data and inspection reports show that some run by the dominant company, Encompass Health Corp., and other for-profit corporations have had rare but serious incidents of patient harm and perform below average on two key safety measures tracked by Medicare. Yet even when inspections reveal grave c…
Questions Remain as Insight Takes Step Toward Reopening Hospitals
WARREN, Ohio – Although Insight Health Systems has received the certification to bill Medicare and Medicaid for services at its two Trumbull County hospitals, Commissioner Rick Hernandez said a lot of questions remain. Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull in Warren and Insight Rehabilitation Hospital Hillside in Howland closed March 27. At that time, Insight […] The post Questions Remain as Insight Takes Step Toward Reopening Hospitals app…
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