Angel Medical Center Board Votes for Mission as Management Company

Franklin, N.C., May 19, 2011 - Officials with Angel Medical Center announced that an agreement has been reached for the Franklin based hospital to be managed by Mission Health System.

Randolph Bulgin, chairman of Angel Medical Center's board of trustees, stated: "After a phenomenal amount of work between our two organizations and numerous meetings with independent consultants and legal counsel, the Angel board reached the unanimous decision that entering into an agreement with Mission Health System is the best choice for our hospital and for our community. We are very excited about the future."

"The residents of Macon County can remain confident that our local hospital will thrive during the coming years," said Tim Hubbs, CEO of Angel Medical Center. "Mission has long been our partner in caring for the sick and injured of Macon County. This agreement just formalizes that partnership and will be the foundation of our future relationship. The focus of this agreement is to maintain, enhance and increase access to health services here locally, while maintaining local input.

As part of Mission Health System, Angel will benefit from:

• competitive bidding and pricing for medical supplies and services
• better access to capital for future development
• increased access to information technology upgrades
• the ability to recruit physicians and other healthcare providers
• increased access to clinical and administrative expertise

"Angel Medical Center is a vital community asset for the people of Macon County, and Mission is proud to continue our long-time partnership with Angel in this new agreement," said Ronald A. Paulus, M.D., MBA, president and CEO of Mission Health System and Mission Hospital. "We're looking forward to working more closely with Angel's leaders, physicians and staff to help ensure the continued delivery of quality care close to home by this outstanding community hospital."

About Angel Medical Center
Angel Medical Center is a full service, not-for-profit Critical Access Hospital located in Franklin, North Carolina, that has served the residents of Macon and surrounding counties since 1923. Inpatient services include a Women's & Children's Health Unit, an Intensive Care Unit, and a Medical/Surgical Unit. Outpatient services include a wound clinic, a foot clinic, chemotherapy services, a full laboratory, digital mammography, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, rehab therapy (cardiac, occupational, physical, pulmonary and speech), as well as surgical and endoscopy services. Mission Spine Center at Angel provides surgical and non-surgical options for patients. Angel also operates the Angel Urgent Care Center and Angel Home Health & Hospice.

Photo Caption: John Maher, vice president of System Development and System Services, Mission Health System; Ron Paulus, MD. President and CEO of Mission Health System, Janice Brumit, Board Chair of Mission Health System, Randolph Bulgin, Board Chair of Angel Medical Center , Tim Hubbs, CEO of Angel Medical Center, and Jan Unger, Vice-Chair of Board of Trustees, Angel Medical Center