Encompass Health Corporation (EHC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Encompass Health Corporation. I'm Lee Higdon, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and I now call this meeting to order. Before we proceed to the formal business of the meeting, I'd like to thank our shareholders and all my fellow members of the Board of Directors for participating in this virtual meeting in order to promote everyone's safety and well-being during the pandemic. We greatly appreciate our stockholders for bearing with us until the public health crisis passes. I know we are all anxious for this to end soon. As a reminder, if you would like to submit a question, you may do so by clicking the link on the annual meeting web page. All questions that comply with the meetings, rules of conduct posted on the web page will be answered. If there is an insufficient time to answer all questions during the meeting, answers will be posted on our Investor Relations website. In order to provide time to our shareholders and attendance to submit votes on the virtual meeting website should they desire to do so, I declare the polls open as of 11:00 central time. If you previously voted by proxy, you do not need to vote again unless you wish to change your vote. However, if any stockholder present has not yet cast a vote or wishes to change a prior vote, you may do so by clicking on the Vote Here link button on the meeting website. We will now proceed with the business of this meeting. The agenda and the rules of conduct for the meeting are posted on the virtual meeting website. I will preside at today's meeting with Patrick Darby, who will act as secretary. Mr. Secretary, would you please report on the procedural formalities?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an affidavit from the firm responsible for mailing our proxy material confirming that the Notice of the Annual Meeting and proxy materials were duly mailed to stockholders of record as of March 9, 2021. A list of those stockholders is posted on the virtual meeting website and available for inspection. This list has been available for a period in excess of 10 days. The company has appointed Debra Baker as the Inspector of Election for this meeting. Ms. Baker has taken and signed an oath to execute faithfully the duties of inspector of election. I also report that the preliminary vote count indicates that a quorum is present at this meeting. The 3 items to be voted on at this meeting are listed in the agenda. These items are more fully described in the proxy statement previously made available to stockholders. The company did not receive any stockholder nominations or proposals for this meeting.

The first item of business to be voted on today is the election of 14 directors to serve until our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The Board of Directors' nominees on the only person standing for election, so I declare the nominations are closed.

I second the nominations.

The ratification of the appointment by the Audit Committee of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm is the second item of business to be voted. I move for approval of this proposal.

I second.

The third item of business to be voted on today is the approval of the compensation for our named executive officers. I move for approval of this proposal.

I second.

We will now proceed to the period set aside for questions regarding the proposals only. I now ask Crissy Carlisle, our Chief Investor Relations Officer, to let us know if any such questions have been submitted on the virtual meeting website.

Mr. Chairman, there are no questions regarding the proposals.

We will now provide for 1 additional minute for any shareholders who wish to vote during this meeting to finish doing so on the virtual meeting website. I declare the polls closed at 11:05 Central time. I ask that the inspector of elections prepare a report on the final voting results and submit it to the secretary when complete. I now ask the secretary to present the preliminary voting results.

Based on the preliminary results received from the inspector of election, the stockholders overwhelmingly have elected each of the 14 nominees to serve on the Board of Directors until the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm and approved the compensation of our named executive officers.

Great. Thank you. I will now open the floor for general questions. I, again, ask Ms. Carlisle to let us know if any general questions have been submitted.

Mr. Chairman, there are no questions.

There being no questions. The formal portion of this meeting is now complete. So I move to adjourn this meeting.

I second the motion.

With that, I declare this 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders adjourned. It now gives me a great honor and pleasure on behalf of the entire Board of Directors and management to recognize and thank all the company's employees who have worked diligently and consistently to make Encompass Health one of the preeminent providers of postacute health care services in the United States. My appreciation and pride has grown exponentially upon seeing how they have responded in this pandemic. Now more than ever, the Board appreciates their sacrifices as well as their dedication and hard work, helping our patients recover from injury or illness. The Outstanding Employee Achievement Award allows us to recognize the extraordinary efforts and contributions of our employees who are the foundation of this company's success. Each year, one outstanding employee is chosen from every hospital based on 4 criteria: contributions to extraordinary patient experience; team spirit and cooperation; commitment to continuous quality improvement; and finally, going above and beyond the call of duty. From these hospital winners, each regional leadership team selects a regional outstanding employee. We, on the Board of Directors, sorely miss holding our annual dinner gala to celebrate these winners. Getting to meet these extraordinary employees is truly one of the highlights of our year. We hope that we can again celebrate our exemplary employees in person next year. On behalf of the Board, congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you. At this time, I would ask our President and CEO, Mark Tarr, to introduce this year's winners.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's clearly my honor to introduce you the outstanding employee winners from each of our regions. It's a unique and diverse group. Some are clinicians while others work more behind the scenes, but they all have one thing in common, they exemplify our core values. They set the standard, they lead with empathy. They do what's right. They focus on the positive and prove that we are, in fact, stronger together. Out of the Encompass Health's more than 31,000 rehabilitation hospital employees, these 7 individuals were selected as the best in their regions. Our 2021 winners are: Rocio Lopez, an environmental services aid from Rockford, Illinois in our Central region; Paris Gore, nursing staff coordinator in Rock Hill, South Carolina, part of our Mid-Atlantic region; Demi Dooros, occupational therapist in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, part of our Northeast region; Jun-Yi Lai, physical therapist and therapy team leader at our hospital in Jonesboro, Arkansas, part of our South Central region; Hailey Kamin, nurse manager and wound coordinator in Bluffton, South Carolina, which is in our Southeast region; Brook Follett, an occupational therapist in Pearland, Texas for our Southwest region; and Morgan Bretzke, wound care and infection control coordinator in Colorado Springs, Colorado as part of our West region. It gives me great pleasure to introduce them to you via this video. As you watch it, you'll see how they embody our values. Congratulations again to all of our winners. [Presentation]

Okay. We now have concluded the entire agenda for this meeting. Thank you all for attending today.