| **Employee Benefit Plans - Textual (Details) $ in Millions**          | 12 Months Ended                                                    |
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| **Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]**                 |                                                               |   |   |
| Company healthcare plan costs, net of employee payments               | $ 119.0                                                            | $ 109.3 | $ 85.2 |
| Payments under the Senior Management Bonus Program                    | $ 11.2                                                             | 9.4 | 9.0 |
| HealthSouth Retirement Investment Plan [Member]                       |                                                               |   |   |
| **Defined Contribution Plan Disclosure [Line Items]**                 |                                                               |   |   |
| Contribution as percentage of salary allowed under the Plan (percent) | 100.00%                                                            |   |   |
| Employer match criteria                                               | 50% of the first 6% of each participant’s elective deferrals |   |   |
| Age requirement to participate in the Plan | yr                       | 21                                                                 |   |   |
| Vesting percentage in employer contributions (percent)                | 100.00%                                                            |   |   |
| Vesting period | yr                                                   | 3                                                                  |   |   |
| Employer contributions                                                | $ 16.6                                                             | 15.0 | 13.9 |
| Forfeitures used to fund the matching contributions                   | $ 0.6                                                              | $ 0.9 | $ 0.5 |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Total costs for the period associated with the Company's sponsored self-insured healthcare plans that include coverage for medical and dental benefits.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_HealthcarePlanExpense**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
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| - Definition
The minimum age required for an employee to be eligible to participate in the Company's Retirement Investment Plan.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanAgeRequirement**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The maximum percentage of each 401(k) participant's elective deferral that the Company will match with a contribution to the participant's retirement account.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanCompanyMatch**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Company matching contributions funded by plan forfeiture account (offsets total contribution costs).
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanCompanyMatchFundedByPlanForfeitureAccount**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Total costs of the Company's matching contributions during a reporting period related to its qualified 401(k) plan.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanCompanyMatchTotalCosts**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The total percentage of the Company's matching contributions that will vest in the Retirement Investment Plan after an employee service requirement has been met.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanCompanyMatchVestingPercentage**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The period of time over which the Company's contributions to a participant's retirement account fully vests.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_RetirementInvestmentPlanCompanyMatchVestingPeriod**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:integerItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The total amount of payments made or expected to be made during a reporting period to participants that are entitled under the Senior Management Bonus Program.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**hls_SeniorManagementBonusProgramTotalCosts**Namespace Prefix:**hls_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanDisclosureLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Maximum percentage of employee gross pay the employee may contribute to a defined contribution plan.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanMaximumAnnualContributionsPerEmployeePercent**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                             |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanNameAxis=hls_HealthSouthRetirementInvestmentPlanMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |