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Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
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Amanda Forster
Premier Inc.
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Premier healthcare alliance announces new foodservice distribution contract that offers significant saving opportunities to its members

New five-year contract with U.S. Foodservice offers best-in-industry savings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (November 18, 2009) – The Premier healthcare alliance today announced a new five-year contract with U.S. Foodservice for food service distribution. The new, sole source contract will provide significant savings opportunities to the Premier members. The agreement will take effect on July 1, 2010.

"We look forward to continuing the association with U.S. Foodservice for the next five years," said Joan Ralph, vice president, Continuum of Care and Food Service. "The Premier Food Service program is realizing exceptional growth and U.S. Foodservice is a large part of that success. This new contract will provide even greater value to our membership."

U.S. Foodservice has held contracts with Premier since 1996. The company is the second largest broadline food distributor in the United States, with sales exceeding $20 billion.

"We are privileged to extend our partnership with Premier to continue serving its members around America," said Robert Aiken, president and CEO, U.S. Foodservice. "Our goal is to align our resources with Premier’s needs to help its members achieve an even higher level of success in the future."

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.