Encompass Health will award the scholarship to students who have the potential for and the desire to provide services to underrepresented populations in Alabama.The University of Alabama at Birmingham has strengthened its dedication to serving underrepresented populations in Alabama with a scholarship donation from Encompass Health Corporation, formerly known as HealthSouth.
Established through a $250,000 donation, the Encompass Health Corporation Endowed Scholars Fund for Diversity in Rehabilitation Sciences will provide an annual scholarship to the most highly qualified students in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Occupational Therapy and Department of Physical Therapy.
“If you know the history of health care and health care education in Birmingham, then you understand this is a natural partnership between Encompass Health — the leader in inpatient rehabilitation — and the School of Health Professions — the leader in rehabilitation education and research,” said Harold P. Jones, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Health Professions. “We are excited about this partnership because working together with Encompass Health means a unified effort in guiding and shaping the future of rehabilitation patient care for generations to come.”
The scholarship will support students from the state of Alabama who demonstrate financial need and come from a disadvantaged background. Encompass Health Corporation is also looking to award the scholarship to students who have the potential for and the desire to provide services to underrepresented populations in Alabama.
“We say this often – being the best means hiring the best – and there is no better way to further our mission than by establishing a scholarship at UAB to help educate the best rehabilitation therapists,” said Mark Tarr, president and CEO of Encompass Health Corporation. “We want to help students who believe there is no reason anyone should be underrepresented in the post-acute treatment they receive in today’s health care world. We want to help students who have the ideas and the vision to deliver health care to the people and places that have been overlooked for far too long.”
The first Encompass Health Corporation Endowed Scholars Fund for Diversity in Rehabilitation Sciences will be awarded in fall 2018.