Norristown, PA, July 26, 2006 – Local access to a neurosurgeon can be a life-defining moment. Today, the majority of patients with both emergency and elective neurosurgical needs must leave the community to receive neurosurgical care, due to limited availability of neurosurgical services in central Montgomery County. Now, neurosurgeons from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network will provide neurosurgical care at Montgomery Hospital Medical Center.

The new practice, Einstein-MHMC Neurosurgery at Montgomery Hospital, will provide an office practice and inpatient neurosurgical consultation and procedures, including spine surgery, at Montgomery Hospital.

Einstein-MHMC Neurosurgery at Montgomery Hospital is the first clinical service offering developed as a direct result of the Einstein-Montgomery Hospital Partnership. Montgomery Hospital identified a serious lack of neurosurgical services in the region as a major healthcare issue for central Montgomery County, and chose to address this issue directly through their partnership with Einstein.

“The neurosurgery program is the first tangible step for our partnership to realize our commitment to bring advanced healthcare services to Norristown and Central Montgomery County,” noted Barry Freedman, President and CEO, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network.

Einstein-MHMC Neurosurgery at Montgomery Hospital will reduce the need for patients to travel for outpatient evaluation, diagnostics and treatment planning for neurological tumors, cerebral aneurysms and disorders of the spine. Having neurosurgical consultation closer to home can shorten the time to treatment, and reduce the need to transfer patients out of the community for care. One of the key goals of the effort is to be a resource for the local physician community.

Einstein-MHMC Neurosurgery at Montgomery Hospital will be staffed by Mark J. Kotapka, MD and Russell Amundson, MD, both members of the Division of Neurosurgery at Albert Einstein Medical Center and board-certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Amundson will be the primary consultant and staff the office practice; both Drs. Kotapka and Amundson will share emergency call. Einstein-MHMC Neurosurgery at Montgomery Hospital will also take advantage of new technologies, such as a tele-radiology and high-powered operating microscopes, as part of their work under the partnership.

“We identified a compelling need in the region and, through our strategic partnership with Einstein, are able to respond in a very substantial way,” added Timothy Casey, President and CEO, Montgomery Hospital. “Our partnership aspires to introduce new clinical specialties in ways that were, until recently, very challenging.”

For more information on the Einstein-Montgomery Hospital Partnership, please contact Richard Montalbano, Project Executive, at 215-456-7018 or by email at montalbanor@einstein.edu.

Philadelphia, PA, January 10, 2006– The Board of Trustees of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN) and the Boards of Montgomery Health System (Montgomery Hospital, Montgomery Hospital Foundation, Fornance Physicians Services, and CMMC) have respectively approved an agreement to enhance the scope of clinical care available to their patients and communities, and to reduce patients’ travel time for obtaining high-level clinical services. The centerpiece of the agreement is the development of a new, technologically advanced medical center, the location of which has not yet been finalized; the preferred site under consideration is within five miles of Montgomery Hospital’s current location.

“We are tremendously excited that our partnership with AEHN will afford us an unparalleled opportunity to build a modern healthcare facility and to offer to our community an array of highly sophisticated clinical services,” says Timothy M. Casey, President and CEO of Montgomery Hospital Medical Center.

While Einstein and Montgomery Hospital will each continue to be governed independently, a new, non-profit health care corporation will be formed to oversee this exciting new initiative. The Board of Directors of this corporation will consist of representatives from the existing boards of both Einstein and Montgomery, who will continue to work collaboratively with community and political leaders during the transition to the new medical center to assess and plan for patient care needs.

“This partnership is an important step toward realizing our shared vision to provide comprehensive advanced medical services to residents of Montgomery County,” stated Barry R. Freedman, President and CEO of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. “This partnership, and the construction of the new facility, will not only increase the quality of health of our primary and surrounding communities, but facilitate financial vitality. Both organizations remain committed, as both providers and employers, to the communities we serve in Philadelphia, Norristown and Montgomery County.”

Montgomery Hospital Medical Center (MHMC) in Norristown is the oldest suburban hospital in Southeastern Pennsylvania, founded in 1889. MHMC is staffed by more than 1,000 health care professionals who meet the needs of approximately 8,500 inpatients and more than 100,000 outpatients each year. MHMC also provides health care services at the 12 physician practice locations of its affiliate, Fornance Physician Services, located throughout Montgomery County.

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network provides healthcare services through Albert Einstein Medical Center, Germantown Community Health Services, Willow Terrace (a nursing home), Einstein at Elkins Park, MossRehab, Willowcrest (a center for subacute care), Belmont Behavioral Health and a number of outpatient and satellite locations. Einstein also operates a primary care network, Einstein Neighborhood Healthcare.