Objective To investigate the incidence and risk factors for healthcare-associated infection(HAI) in hospitalized patients in rehabilitation center. Methods Clinical data of hospitalized patients in a rehabilitation center from January to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, incidence of HAI, infection sites and pathogens were analyzed, risk factors for HAI were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 4 118 patients were hospitalized, 88 patients had 95 cases of HAI, HAI incidence and HAI case incidence were 2.14% and 2.31% respectively. The highest incidence of HAI was in patients with cerebral hemorrhage, incidence and case incidence were 5.41% and 6.21% respectively. The top three sites of HAI were urinary tract, lower respiratory tract and upper respiratory tract, accounting for 49.47%, 27.37% and 15.79% respectively. A total of 76 strains of pathogens were isolated from 95 cases of HAI, 56 of which (73.68%) were gram-negative bacteria and 15 (19.74%) were gram-positive bacteria. Multivariate logistic retrospective analysis showed that male, invasive operation, disturbance of consciousness and hypoproteinemia were independent risk factors for HAI in hospitalized patients in rehabilitation department (all P<0.05). Conclusion Male patients, disturbance of consciousness, invasive manipulation and hypoproteinemia are risk factors for HAI in patients in rehabilitation center, targeted prevention and control measures should be taken to reduce the occurrence of HAI.