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NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 4, 2000--Renal Care Group, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:RCGI) today announced that the company has acquired the outpatient and home dialysis programs of Northwestern Memorial Hospital of Chicago which provides dialysis services to approximately 200 patients. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Northwestern Memorial dialysis programs will become part of Renal Care Group's University Division, which is devoted to dialysis programs in academic medical centers. With completion of the transaction, Renal Care Group will provide dialysis services to about 1,400 patients through its University Division in various regions of the United States and to about 2,000 patients in metropolitan Chicago.
"In looking at several potential partners, our first concern was for the well-being of our patients. Renal Care Group is well suited to continue the mission of the hospital to provide exceptional care to the patients in our community with end-stage renal disease,'' said William D. Woolverton, Vice President for Ambulatory Care at Northwestern Memorial. ``Renal Care Group has a patient-oriented philosophy similar to our own.''
Daniel Batlle, M.D., Chief of the Division of Nephrology at Northwestern Memorial echoed those sentiments. ``The dialysis program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital was the first to be created in the state of Illinois over three decades ago and has had an excellent track record of patient care over the years. We expect that our affiliation with the University Division of Renal Care Group will allow us to continue this tradition of excellence in providing dialysis services to our patients. We are also pleased that nephrologists of Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation will continue to take care of their patients and that a new facility will be built by Renal Care Group and this will help us expand the unit capacity, while retaining the location at the Northwestern Campus.''
Raymond M. Hakim, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Renal Care Group, Inc. said, ``The combined efforts of our dedicated physicians working together with patients and their families have helped us to build a company with a national reputation for quality patient care. We're pleased that academic medical centers, such as Northwestern Memorial, recognize our commitment to quality care. The addition of Northwestern Memorial to our growing academic center affiliation will also allow us to strengthen our multi center clinical research.''
Northwestern Memorial is the primary teaching hospital of Northwestern University Medical School and is widely recognized as one of the nation's pre-eminent medical centers. Since 1992, Northwestern Memorial has been ranked No. 1 by the people of Chicago as their most preferred hospital, according to a study by the National Research Corporation.
Renal Care Group, Inc. is a nephrology services company that focuses on providing care to patients with kidney disease, including patients suffering from chronic kidney failure. The Company currently treats approximately 14,200 patients through 181 owned outpatient dialysis facilities, in addition to providing acute dialysis services to 103 hospitals. More than 3,800 associates provide services across the Company's 22-state network.
Contact:
Renal Care Group, Inc.
R. Dirk Allison, 615/345-5500
or
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Paula Poda, 312/926-7432 |
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