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Lovelace Completes Purchase of Heart Hospital of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lovelace Health System, Inc. has successfully completed the purchase of the assets and operations of the Heart Hospital of New Mexico from MedCath Corporation.

The 55-bed Heart Hospital in downtown Albuquerque, N.M. is now a part of Lovelace Medical Center and will be known as the Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center.

"This is an important day for Lovelace and our patients," said Ron Stern, president and CEO of the Lovelace Health System. "We now can provide a range of cardiology services that are significantly enhanced, and through our network, we can make these high quality services available to more people in Albuquerque and in New Mexico than ever before."

The addition of the Heart Hospital to the Lovelace system means easier access to approximately 300,000 members of the Lovelace Health Plan and other health insurance plans, because the Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center will be "in-network," meaning insurance will cover more of the costs.

The medical staff and nurses of the Heart Hospital of New Mexico have a strong reputation for exceptional clinical quality and high patient satisfaction. Lovelace will immediately begin to build on that success with an investment of more than $2 million to launch Electronic Medical Records (EMR) at the hospital by spring 2012. EMR will further improve the quality of patient care, safety and service.

Lovelace continues to work closely with the physicians of the Heart Hospital to create and implement a smooth transition.

The acquisition is another example of investment in Albuquerque and New Mexico by Lovelace's parent company, Ardent Health Services. To date, more than $292 million have been invested into Lovelace's facilities, equipment and people since 2002.

About Lovelace

Lovelace Health System comprises a network of acute-care hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, the Lovelace Health Plan offering access to a wide range of health care providers and specialists across New Mexico, S.E.D. Medical Laboratories, and retail pharmacy locations in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe.

About MedCath

MedCath Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a health care provider focused on high acuity services with the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease being a primary service offering. MedCath owns an interest in and operates four hospitals with a total of 366 licensed beds, located in Arizona, California, Louisiana and Texas.

    Contact:  Laurie Volkin               Kevin Gwin
              Lovelace Health System      Ardent Health Services
              (505) 903-0367              (615) 296-3146
              laurie.volkin@lovelace.com   kevin.gwin@ardenthealth.com

SOURCE Lovelace Health System, Inc.