MCG HEALTH SYSTEM ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH SELECT MEDICAL CORPORATION FOR SPECIALIZED ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL

Augusta, Ga. -- MCG Health System has signed a contract to partner with Select Medical Corporation of Mechanicsburg, Pa., for a specialized acute care hospital that will be located within the MCG hospital complex.

"This has been a long-awaited addition to the scope of services offered by MCG Health System," said Pat Sodomka, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MCG Health, Inc. "As an academic medical center, MCG Health System has a mission to provide quality, family-centered care. With Select, we have found a provider equally devoted to making those goals a reality for this unique patient population."

The "hospital within a hospital" will be a separate facility within MCG hospital, dedicated to providing specialized acute care for medically complex patients while preserving patient resources and achieving cost-effective outcomes. The 35-bed unit will be called Select Specialty Hospital and will have its own CEO, governing board, medical director and medical staff.

Those who will benefit from this new hospital include patients with medically complex problems, acute or chronic respiratory disorders and impaired tissue integrity, as well as those who are at high risk for complications, are unable to withstand three hours of intensive therapy or require too high a degree of nursing/respiratory care to be acceptable for most acute rehabilitation programs.

"The need for such a service in this area is great," said Sandra McVicker, Director of Clinical Resource Management Programs. "In the post-acute care continuum, a specialized acute care hospital offers the top tier of care for those patients whose medical conditions are too severe to allow care in a nursing home, subacute care hospital or even a rehabilitation hospital."

Select Medical Corporation has another specialized acute care hospital located within Doctors Hospital. The facility at MCG hospital will be affiliated with that unit.

MCG Health System chose Select as its specialized acute care hospital provider due to its demonstrated quality of care, its experience with the "hospital within a hospital" model and its experience with academic medical centers.

Select Medical Corporation is a leading operator of long-term acute care hospitals in the United States. It currently operates 72 specialty acute care hospitals in 24 states. Select is also a leading operator of outpatient rehabilitation clinics, operating approximately 737 rehabilitation clinics in the United States and Canada.

Select Specialty Hospitals are JCAHO accredited, Medicare certified, DRG exempt and licensed as acute care hospitals.

MCG Health System is composed of MCG Health, Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the Physicians Practice Group. MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Hospitals and Clinics, Children's Medical Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services. MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by offering the highest level of primary and specialty health care.