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Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
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Premier healthcare alliance board appoints new members to committees dedicated to hospital quality and cost improvement, healthcare transparency and advocacy

Executives from 12 leading hospitals and healthcare systems named to Group Purchasing and Member Relations Committee, Quality Improvement Committee

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 19, 2010) – The Premier healthcare alliance board of directors has named leaders from 12 top U.S. not-for-profit hospitals and health systems to a pair of stockholder committees that provide strategic oversight to the alliance.

Consisting of executives and experts from 34 Premier alliance members and outside representation from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Group Purchasing and Member Relations (GPMR) Committee and the Quality Improvement Committee (QIC) serve in an advisory capacity to Premier's board of directors. The committees play vital roles in setting direction for the alliance, which serves more than 2,300 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare providers, by helping alliance members improve care quality and safely reduce associated costs. They also promote transparency within the healthcare industry while offering advice and support on legislative and regulatory policy positions.

"These committees are integral to the success of our member hospitals," said Susan DeVore, Premier's president and CEO. "As representatives of the entire alliance, the input and feedback they provide is invaluable in our efforts to drive quality and cost improvements."

Appointed by the Premier board of directors as new members of the GPMR Committee are:

Joann Anderson, president and CEO, Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Lumberton, N.C.;
Katherine Arbuckle, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Bon Secours Health System Inc., Marriottsville, Md.;
Michael Nagowski, CEO, Cape Fear Valley Health System, Fayetteville, N.C.;
Marvin O'Quinn, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Catholic Healthcare West, San Francisco; and
Steven Sonenreich, president and CEO, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Fla.

Appointed by the Premier board of directors as new members of the QIC are:

Jane Crowley, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Catholic Healthcare Partners, Cincinnati;
Rhonda Forsyth, president and CEO, John C. Lincoln Health Network, Phoenix;
Norman Gruber, president and CEO, Salem Hospital, Salem, Ore.;
Margaret Naleppa, president and CEO, Peninsula Regional Medical Center and Health System, Salisbury, Md.;
Valinda Rutledge, president and CEO, CaroMont Health, Gastonia, N.C.;
Phillip Schaengold, president and CEO, Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah, Ga.; and
William Thompson, president and chief operating officer, SSM Health Care, St. Louis.

Other members of the GPMR Committee include: Robert Carmen, president and CEO, Adventist Health, Roseville, Calif.; David Jimenez, chief operating officer, Catholic Healthcare Partners, Cincinnati; John Knox, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, N.C.; Stephen Mansfield, president and CEO, Methodist Health System, Dallas; James Oliver, president and CEO, Yankee Alliance Inc., Andover, Mass.; Thomas Rockers, president and CEO, St. Anthony's Medical Center, St. Louis; Michael Sellards, president and CEO, St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, W.Va.; Barry Steichen, executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief financial officer, Saint Francis Health System, Tulsa, Okla.; Dennis Swan, president and CEO, Sparrow Health System, Lansing, Mich.; Alan Yordy, president and CEO, PeaceHealth, Bellevue, Wash.

Other members of the QIC include: Maureen Bisognano, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Cambridge, Mass.; Michael Bryant, president and CEO, Methodist Medical Center, Peoria, Ill.; Robert Colones, CEO, McLeod Regional Medical Center, Florence, S.C.; John Currin, CEO, Alamance Regional Medical Center, Burlington, N.C.; Warren Green, president and CEO, Lifebridge Health, Baltimore; Charles Hart, M.D., CEO, Rapid City Regional Hospital Inc., Rapid City, S.D.; Robert Issai, CEO, Daughters of Charity Health System, Los Altos Hills, Calif.; Stephen Mason, president and CEO, BayCare Health System, Clearwater, Fla.; John Porter, president and CEO, Avera Health, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Marlon Priest, M.D., chief medical officer, Bon Secours Health System, Marriottsville, Md.; Roger Ray, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, N.C.; Mark Tolosky, president and CEO, Baystate Health, Springfield, Mass.

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.