Health Management Associates, Inc. Negotiates Purchase Agreement To Acquire Barrow Community Hospital, Winder, Georgia

NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Management Associates, Inc. announced today that it has negotiated an agreement to acquire Barrow Community Hospital in Winder, Georgia. The execution and closing of the purchase agreement are subject to the review and approval of the Georgia Attorney General’s office pursuant to applicable state law.

“Barrow Community Hospital is the sole community provider in its primary service area. We are very excited about the opportunity to serve this rapidly growing area of northern Georgia,” said Joseph V. Vumbacco, President and Chief Executive Officer of HMA. “Barrow County is the 24th fastest growing county in the United States, and offers HMA an outstanding opportunity to expand services and improve the access to health care for the community. With a current population of more than fifty-two thousand residents, Barrow County is expected to double in size over the next decade, and HMA is eager to meet the health care demands that are anticipated from that growth.”

Barrow Community Hospital is a fully accredited, general acute-care hospital operating 56 licensed beds and is located in Winder, Georgia, approximately 40 miles east of Atlanta and 20 miles north of HMA’s Walton Regional Medical Center located in Monroe, Georgia. The hospital generates approximately $20 million in annual net revenue.

HMA is the premier operator of non-urban general acute care hospitals in communities situated throughout the United States. HMA has generated 17 years of uninterrupted operating earnings growth and upon completion of the transaction to acquire the 56-bed Barrow Community Hospital and the previously announced transaction to acquire a controlling interest in the 84-bed Orlando Regional St. Cloud Hospital, HMA will operate 59 hospitals in 16 states with approximately 8,450 licensed beds.

All references to “HMA” used in this release refer to Health Management Associates, Inc. or its affiliates.

Certain statements contained in this release, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “expects,” and words of similar import, constitute “forward- looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may include projections of revenues, income or loss, capital expenditures, capital structure, or other financial items, statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, statements of future economic performance, statements of the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing statements, and other statements which are other than statements of historical fact.

Statements made throughout this release are based on current estimates of future events, and HMA has no obligation to update or correct these estimates. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially as a result of these various factors.

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CONTACT: John C. Merriwether, Vice President of Financial Relations,Health Management Associates, +1-239-598-3104