Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network and Sacred Heart Hospital Announce

Allentown, Pa. (June 6, 2008) -- Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHN) and Sacred Heart Hospital (SHH) today announced they agreed to consider new, major strategic initiatives as part of the organizations' initial discussions for working together. These options would help ensure continued access to quality health care for the residents of downtown Allentown.

During a meeting of representatives from both boards held June 6, 2008, LVHN and SHH discussed numerous initiatives that would leverage LVHN's resources to meet community health care needs in downtown Allentown which might enable SHH to address the challenges it faces. The initiatives discussed are:

• LVHN providing primary care services to SHH campus;

• LVHN providing cutting edge telehealth services; and

• LVHN assisting the provision of behavioral health services.

In addition they agreed to continue to pursue a federally qualified health center and maintain the existing cardiac services relationship with SHH. These initiatives need to be reviewed and approved by both organizations' boards of trustees.

At the meeting, LVHN and SHH decided not to pursue discussions to enter into a formal merger. Ad Hoc Committee members from both boards agreed a merger is not feasible. Importantly, the Ad Hoc Committee agreed to ongoing meetings in order to monitor these initiatives and consider other cooperative arrangements in the future.

"By agreeing to consider these proposals, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital are breaking new ground in finding ways to work together, while each institution remains independent," says Jeff Aiken, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of LVHN. "Our first priority is the well being of the communities we serve, and we believe this cooperative approach is in the best interests of all concerned."

"We are intrigued by the options presented by Lehigh Valley Hospital, and our intention is to consider these proposals seriously. Over time, we may find other areas too where our two institutions can work together to ensure Allentown continues to have access to quality health care," said Leo Connors, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at SHH.

In addition to the proposals under consideration, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network maintains a strong presence in downtown Allentown, operating a number of clinics and other health care related services.

Annualized for FY2008, LVHN's Community Practices at 17th Street will have cared for 118,395 ambulatory patient visits including 18,086 internal medicine visits, 27,320 pediatric visits, 24,318 visits at the Center for Women's Medicine, 21,060 Family Health Center visits, 13,125 Mental Health Clinic visits, 2,723 Surgery visits, 5,219 dental clinic visits and 6,544 geriatric visits. In addition, LVHN will have treated an additional 9,334 patients at its community outreach locations, including 3,200 at The Caring Place Family Health Center, 2,574 visits Casa Guadalupe Vide Nueva Clinic, 2,910 at Central Elementary School and 650 visits at the 6th Street Shelter. For urgent and emergent care, the LVH-17th Street Emergency Department is projected to care for more than 30,000 patient visits in FY'08. The Community Practices at LVH-17th Street will take care of over 30,000 individual patients in FY'08. Clinics and health related services are open 8 am to 5 pm with most having either evening or weekend hours by appointment.

Sacred Heart Hospital is a 263-bed Catholic medical center located in central Allentown, Pa. Founded in 1912, Sacred Heart Hospital offers a range of advanced medical services. A network of physician practices throughout Lehigh and Northampton Counties provide complete primary and pediatric medical care to the region's residents. Additional information is available at www.shh.org.

A 988 bed premier academic community hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network comprises three hospital facilities - two in Allentown and one in Bethlehem, Pa. Also included in the Network is Lehigh Valley Health Services, providing home health, hospice, pharmaceutical and health management services. All three Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network hospitals are designated national Magnet hospitals for excellence in nursing. Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network is a U.S. News & World Report "best hospital" for twelve straight years.

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