CARLSBAD, Calif., March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- iVOW, Inc. , a provider of disease management services for the treatment of chronic and morbid obesity, today announced that it has renewed its contract to manage the bariatric surgery program at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, VA. The renewal, for two years, follows a successful one year engagement during which iVOW provided on-site co-ordination and support and managed the integration of the hospital and physician components of the program. St. Mary’s has one of the more active bariatric surgery programs in the country, performing over 600 procedures in 2004, an approximately 20% increase over 2003.
Commenting on iVOW’s contribution, Michael Kerner, Executive Vice President of St. Mary’s Hospital said, “iVOW’s bariatric program management expertise has enabled our program to expand while navigating through the rapidly changing bariatric surgery marketplace.”
Michael H. Owens, MD, MPH, FACPE, CPE, President of iVOW, said, “We are very pleased to be renewing our contract to manage the program at St. Mary’s. In partnership with the hospital and surgeons we look forward to continuing to develop the performance of this leading bariatric program. The success of the St. Mary’s program serves as an excellent case study for presenting to other hospitals that can benefit from iVOW’s management services.”
iVOW
Our business is focused exclusively on the disease state management of chronic and morbid obesity. We provide program management, operational consulting and clinical training services to physicians and hospitals involved in the medical and surgical treatment of morbidly obese patients. We also provide specialized vitamins to patients who have undergone obesity surgery. Our corporate website is http://www.ivow.com/; information on our nutritional supplements for post-surgical gastric bypass patients may be found on http://www.vistavitamins.com/. iVOW is the new corporate name of Vista Medical Technologies, Inc. iVOW is traded on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market under the stock symbol IVOW.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements concerning the business and products of iVOW. Actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors, including, but not limited to the following: our efforts to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq SmallCap Market; our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations and execute our business plan; our ability to penetrate the market for obesity surgery management services; and customer acceptance of our products and services. Other risks inherent in our business are described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2003 and our most recent quarterly report on form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
AT iVOW: AT FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD: John R. Lyon Tony Rossi Chairman & CEO Media Contact jrlyon@vistamt.comtrossi@financialrelationsboard.com (760) 603-9120 (310) 854-8317
iVOW, Inc.
CONTACT: John R. Lyon, Chairman & CEO of iVOW, Inc., +1-760-603-9120,jrlyon@vistamt.com; or Media, Tony Rossi of Financial Relations Board,+1-310-854-8317, trossi@financialrelationsboard.com, for iVOW, Inc.
Web site: http://www.vistavitamins.com/
Web site: http://www.ivow.com/