Gambro Acquires Dialysis Programs at The University of Pennsylvania Health System
Gambro Acquires Dialysis Programs at The University of Pennsylvania Health System Stockholm, Sweden, July 3, 2000 - Gambro AB (OM Stockholm Exchange: GAMBaST, GAMBbST), a leading international medical technology and healthcare company, today announced it has, through Gambro Healthcare, Inc., entered into a new dialysis services relationship with the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) through the acquisition of two UPHS-affiliated dialysis facilities. With this transaction, Gambro will now operate two outpatient facilities affiliated with UPHS by providing both in-center hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments to over 320 patients in the Philadelphia area. Gambro will also provide certain management and other services within UPHS acute dialysis units. (Gambro currently owns and operates an outpatient dialysis facility located in Presbyterian Medical Center, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UPHS.) Members of the Nephrology Division of the Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Laurence Turka, MD will continue to provide medical oversight to all UPHS-affiliated Gambro units. William J. Valle, Senior Vice President of Gambro Healthcare, Inc. said, "The combined efforts of our dedicated physicians and patient care personnel working in cooperation with patients and their families have allowed us to develop a worldwide reputation for being the patients' benchmark in renal replacement therapies. We are proud that academic medical centers, such as The University of Pennsylvania Health System, recognize our total commitment to providing our patients with the highest level of care and support. The addition of The University of Pennsylvania Health System to our leading position among providers with academic affiliations will strengthen our ability to develop best in class practices to deliver cost-effective high quality care to our patients." The University of Pennsylvania has been a leader in medicine for more than 230 years, having established the nation's first medical school in 1765. Today, Penn's School of Medicine is ranked in the "Top 10" of medical schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) - included in U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" listing of best hospitals in America - was established in 1874 as the nation's first teaching hospital. In 1998, HUP received the Ernest A. Codman Award for demonstrating excellence in using outcomes measurements to improve the quality of care it delivers. The University of Pennsylvania Health System, created in 1993, recently earned the National Quality Health Care Award in 1998 from the National Committee for Quality Health Care. As a result of this transaction, Gambro now provides dialysis treatments to over 1,700 patients in twenty-three (23) outpatient facilities in the state of Pennsylvania. The Company now owns, operates, manages or provides consulting services to 490 dialysis centers in the United States that serve about 36,600 patients. There are patients under treatment in centers across 31 states and the District of Columbia. Gambro Healthcare is a leading provider of kidney dialysis services in the US. Gambro Healthcare is a fully integrated service provider of renal replacement therapy. Its activities include physician practice management, dialysis services, and clinical laboratory services. For further information, please contact: Bengt Modéer, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, tel. +46-8-613 65 00, +46-70-513 65 33 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/07/03/20000703BIT00620/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/07/03/20000703BIT00620/bit0002.pdf