MemorialCare Again Named Best Health System in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura Counties in Modern Healthcare-Verispan 100 Most Highly Integrated Healthcare Networks Ratings

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., -- MemorialCare Medical Centers in Southern California was again named the highest ranked health system in a four-county area in a survey published by Modern Healthcare magazine and conducted by Verispan, a national research firm.

MemorialCare placed in the top 50 nationally in the 2007 Verispan IHN 100, a nationwide study of integrated health care networks that includes the most prestigious health systems in the country. Only three California health systems broke into the top 50; and once again, MemorialCare was the highest ranked health care system in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura Counties.

"We are proud of this preeminent distinction and honored to be counted among the top 100 health networks in the country," says Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D., MemorialCare's President and Chief Executive Officer. "It is a testament to our more than 15,000 employees, physicians and board members who work tirelessly to ensure the communities we serve have access to the most advanced health care available. The honor also demonstrates our long-term commitment to best-practice medicine and dedication to top performance that benefits the hundreds of thousands of patients we serve annually."

MemorialCare Medical Centers are recipients of numerous national quality and management awards. MemorialCare executives were named Top Leadership Team in the Nation by Health Leaders magazine; and MemorialCare was the only West Coast health system listed among the 25 Best Health Systems for Overall Care and Heart Attack, Heart Failure and Surgical Care in Total Benchmark Solution's Annual Competition. Miller Children's Hospital was one of only nine children's hospitals nationwide chosen Top Children's Hospitals by Leapfrog Quality and Safety Survey; and for the seventh year, Hospitals & Health Networks named MemorialCare among the 100 Most Wired, earning MemorialCare the magazine's cover story. Computerworld magazine selected MemorialCare one of 100 Best Places to Work, the only health system in Los Angeles and Orange Counties receiving this honor.

Verispan's report, regarded the nation's top rating system, evaluates 566 health networks that operate as a unified organization while building a strong base of services to provide the highest level of care. Ratings evaluate network performance and other success factors, including integration, technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services, access, hospital utilization and physicians.

MemorialCare includes Saddleback Memorial Medical Center-Laguna Hills, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center-Fountain Valley, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center-San Clemente, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach.