Amedisys Acquires Home Health Agency In Certificate Of Need State Of North Carolina

BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Amedisys, Inc. (Nasdaq: "AMED" or the "Company"), one of America's leading home health nursing companies, today announced that it has acquired a single home health agency in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from a company that is a joint venture of three nursing homes, effective December 1, 2004. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition represents Amedisys' third entry into the North Carolina market.

The agency is expected to contribute at least $1.0 million to Amedisys' annualized revenues. Additionally, North Carolina is a Certificate of Need (C.O.N.) state, which limits other providers' ability to compete in these markets. The C.O.N. acquired by Amedisys in North Carolina covers seven counties, including Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital.

"We are excited to further expand our presence in the North Carolina market through this acquisition," stated William F. Borne, Chief Executive Officer of Amedisys, Inc. "We continue to see a number of similar acquisition opportunities available in attractive C.O.N. states, and maintain our intention to selectively acquire companies that fit our acquisition profile," concluded Mr. Borne.

Amedisys, Inc., a leading provider of home health nursing services, is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "AMED".

This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company's services in the marketplace, competitive factors, changes in government reimbursement procedures, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks discussed in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

Additional information on the Company can be found on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.amedisys.com/ Contact: Amedisys, Inc. Gregory H. Browne, CFO (225) 292-2031 gbrowne@amedisys.com Investor Relations: Euro RSCG Life NRP Brian Ritchie (212) 845-4269 brian.ritchie@eurorscg.com

CONTACT: Gregory H. Browne, CFO of Amedisys, Inc., +1-225-292-2031,gbrowne@amedisys.com; or Investor Relations - Brian Ritchie of Euro RSCG LifeNRP, +1-212-845-4269, brian.ritchie@eurorscg.com, for Amedisys, Inc.

Web site: http://www.amedisys.com/