Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Robert Ortenzio: No, it does not. And that’s well said and that’s clear. I mean this is not a signal that we think that the business is going to be. That’s volatile across 2023. It’s really just more of a signal that since we suspended guidance that we just want to be pretty comfortable and have a pretty tight range before we issue again.

Bill Sutherland: Right, thank you guys.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question will come from Miles Highsmith from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open.

Miles Highsmith: Hey good morning guys. Thanks for taking my questions. I had just a few clarifications and then a couple of questions after that. I think you gave it, so I apologize if I’m re-asking but I was hoping 4 numbers for the full quarter of Q4, if you’d be able to give me the agency rates on a dollar basis, the full quarter utilization rates percentage-wise? And then the Q4 on a dollar basis, the total agency cost in the Q4 investment nurse costs on a dollar basis? And then I have a couple of follow-ups?

Martin Jackson: Sure, Miles, let’s see.

Robert Ortenzio: You got a lot there. Come on Miles.

Martin Jackson: Okay. Okay, Miles. Get your pen and paper ready.

Miles Highsmith: I’m ready.

Martin Jackson: Q4 RN expenses, was $27.1 million. The Q4 RN hourly agency staffing rate, $92 and the utilization rate in Q4 was 18.1%.

Miles Highsmith: Okay great. And did you quantify the Q4 dollars related to investments in nursing?

Martin Jackson: No, we did not.

Miles Highsmith: Okay, thanks. And then just a couple of others I guess, is there any way you’d be able to just characterize the proportion of your more recent hires that are in that kind of seven to eight-week period where they’re training and you have some duplication still maybe Q4 versus Q3 or however you might be willing to characterize it. And then just lastly on the potential for EBITDA guidance I definitely heard what you said in the last call or response. I’m just wondering, seeing that stability. Is that largely LTAC still or critical illness still? Or is it now a function of needing to see kind of where productivity is also on the outpatient rehab side or other variables?

Robert Ortenzio: While Marty is looking for that earlier stuff, let me – I’ll comment on the second part of your question. I would say, yes, it’s probably critical illness and outpatient. Those are the areas that we would see the greatest improvement. I mean, if you look at the business and even over the last couple of quarters, the rehab hospital business and the Concentra has been pretty stable. And critical illness obviously, is the one that would have the most improvement over 22 because of the labor environment, which is, as you see, and as Marty pointed out, we’re giving you monthly splits on how that has increased. So you can see that the improvement in the staffing and critical illness is, I think, fairly dramatic. And so if that continues, that’s obviously going to be the biggest mover – outpatient to a lesser extent, but the same thing, you’re going to see more improvement in the outpatient and in critical illness than you will see in inpatient rehab and Concentra, which has been pretty stable.