St. Vincent's and Mayo Clinic Transfer Ownership of St. Luke's Hospital: Hospital Projects Will Proceed Immediately

Thursday, June 30, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 30, 2005 — St. Vincent's and Mayo Clinic have completed St. Vincent's purchase of St. Luke's Hospital. The documents for the purchase were signed Thursday, June 30, 2005. The transfer of legal ownership will take effect Friday, July 1, 2005. With the transfer of legal ownership, St. Vincent's takes title to St. Luke's Hospital, the two adjoining physician office buildings and other tangible assets. St. Vincent's is leasing the facilities back to Mayo Clinic until the new Mayo Clinic Hospital is opened in 2008.

In previous weeks, Mayo and St. Vincent's completed the purchase agreement for St. Luke's Hospital, a significant transaction that represents an investment by St. Vincent's of approximately $150 million. With the proceeds from the sale and over $70 million from grateful benefactors, Mayo Clinic will begin construction of a 214-bed hospital at its San Pablo Road campus. When Mayo Clinic Hospital opens, there will be a second and final closing that will transfer operational control of St. Luke's to St. Vincent's.

"As an organization, we are very excited about extending the uniqueness of our healing ministry in this community," said John Maher, St. Vincent's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to working with doctors and caregivers at St. Luke's, the facility that has been here in Jacksonville longer than any other private hospital. St. Vincent's and St. Luke's have been taking care of patients in Jacksonville for a combined 221 years. Together, we have quality, tradition and history. We're excited the day for these much-needed projects has arrived."

"When Mayo Clinic Hospital opens in 2008, patients coming to Mayo for complex medical care will be treated at a single location with integrated inpatient and outpatient services," said George B. Bartley, M.D., Chair of Mayo's Board of Governors. "Having our hospital, clinic, laboratory, research and education facilities on one campus improves patient care and efficiency and helps reduce costs."

St. Luke's Hospital is Florida's oldest private hospital. It was founded in 1873 by three local women and housed in a two-room cottage with four beds and several tables and chairs. After a successful community fund-raising effort, the founders built a brick building near the present day Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena to house the growing hospital, but the building was destroyed by an arsonist a week before the move. Undeterred, the founders built an even larger facility on the spot. That building, which still exists, opened in 1878 and served the community for 36 years. Continuing growth outpaced the hospital's capacity, and the hospital board looked to expand once again. In 1909 the Jacksonville City Council deeded acreage just north of downtown to the hospital. Patients were moved into the new facility in 1914. Through several additions and renovations, the hospital served the community at its Springfield location for 70 years. In 1984 St. Luke's moved to its present location in the Southpoint area. In 1987 St. Luke's became a Mayo Clinic hospital, where it continues to serve the community while acting as the admitting hospital for over 300 Mayo Clinic physicians.

St. Vincent's earned a Distinguished Hospital Award from J.D. Power and Associates in 2005 and was previously recognized by U.S. News & World Report with the highest-ranked heart hospital in the state and one of the top 50 heart hospitals in the nation. St. Vincent's is currently home to the largest cardiovascular program between Atlanta and Orlando.

For more information, contact:

Pamela Rittenhouse at St. Vincent's
(904) 308-7967 (office)
(904) 889-0059 (pager)
pritt002@jaxhealth.com

Erik Kaldor at Mayo Clinic
(904) 953-2299
kaldor.erik@mayo.edu

St. Vincent's Health System includes St. Vincent's Medical Center, St. Catherine Labouré Manor, Consolidated Laboratories, Mobile Mammography, St. Vincent's Foundation, Advanced Patient Transportation, Seton Pharmacies, Consolidated Pharmacies, and other outpatient healthcare services. St. Vincent's was founded by the Daughters of Charity in 1916 to provide health services to the sick and the poor of North Florida. Today, St. Vincent's serves more than 25,000 inpatients each year, about 50,000 patients for outpatient surgery and invasive procedures and more than 60,000 people in its Emergency Room. St. Vincent's Medical Center was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as a Distinguished Hospital in 2004 for providing "An Outstanding Patient Experience" and was named one of "America's Best Hospitals" in the category of Heart and Heart Surgery by U.S. News & World Report in 2003. St. Vincent's is a member of Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic and nonprofit health system with more than 100,000 associates serving in 67 acute care hospitals and dozens of related facilities in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Consistent with its mission to serve all people with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable, Ascension Health provides clinically excellent care with an emphasis on innovation and a focus on transforming the healthcare industry.

Mayo Clinic is a multispecialty medical clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. The staff includes 312 physicians working in more than 40 specialties to provide diagnosis, treatment and surgery. Patients who need hospitalization are admitted to nearby St. Luke's Hospital, a 289-bed Mayo facility. Mayo Clinics also are located in Rochester, Minn., and Arizona. Visit www.MayoClinic.org/news for all the news from Mayo Clinic.

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