UPDATE 1-HealthSouth Q3 profit beats Street; ups 2009 EPS view

* Q3 adj cont ops EPS $0.38 beats Street by 14 cents

* Revenue rises 4 pct to $472.7 mln

* Raises 2009 EPS view to $1.45-$1.50

* Shares rise 5 pct

Nov 3 (Reuters) - HealthSouth Corp (HLS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a leading operator of rehabilitation hospitals, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher discharge volume, and raised its 2009 adjusted earnings forecast, sending its shares up 5 percent.

For the third quarter, HealthSouth reported net income attributable to the company of $16.8 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with $6.6 million, or breakeven a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company earned 38 cents a share from continuing operations.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $472.7 million, primarily driven by a 5 percent increase in patient discharges. The company gets paid when patients are discharged.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 24 cents a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $474.0 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.