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CONTACT:
Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
704.733.5797

Premier Inc. plans transition in executive leadership

CEO Rick Norling to serve through June 30, 2009

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (October 16, 2008) – Richard A. (Rick) Norling will retire as president and chief executive officer of Premier Inc., the nationwide healthcare alliance, on June 30, 2009, the end of his current contract term.

A process is underway to have a successor identified well before then and ensure a smooth transition, said Premier Board Chair Lowell C. Kruse, president and CEO of Heartland Health in St. Joseph, Mo. Norling has been planning for his eventual retirement for some time and the succession planning process allows for orderly transition before he leaves.

"We are fortunate to have Rick’s ongoing leadership through mid-2009 and the opportunity to go forward with no gap in direction and momentum," Kruse said, citing benefits of Premier’s following best practices of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award with ongoing succession planning.

Norling first joined Premier as chief operating officer in 1997, the year after Premier was created through the mergers of three smaller organizations. He became its president and CEO in 1998. Earlier, he was president and chief executive officer of Fairview Hospital and Healthcare System, headquartered in Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota.

"The strong Premier alliance that exists today has been very much shaped by Rick’s vision, strategic thinking, and passion for building an excellent organization rooted in values," Kruse said.

The Premier Board and its committees are engaged in the customary work associated with identifying a successor leader, Kruse reported. An executive search firm, Spencer Stuart, is engaged to assist the board, and, consistent with best-practice principles, external and internal candidates are to be considered.

About the Premier healthcare alliance, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals and 80,000-plus other healthcare sites using the power of collaboration to lead the transformation to high quality, cost-effective care. Owned by hospitals, health systems and other providers, Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier has worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has an office in Washington. https://premierinc.com. Stay connected with Premier on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.