ADVISORY/Kaiser Permanente Pediatricians Write ``Prescriptions for Reading''.

Assignment Desks/Education Writers

ADVISORY...for Friday (Feb. 28)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

"It's not enough to focus on education and health care, each in its
own box ... Pediatricians giving books to children should be as
routine as giving immunizations."  -- Barry Zuckerman, MD, Co-Founder,
Reach Out and Read

Date/Time:   Friday, Feb. 28, 2003

             10:00-10:30 a.m.  Press Conference and interview
              availability
             10:30-11:00 a.m.  Photo Opportunity

Where:       Panorama City Medical Center, South 1 Bldg.
              Pediatric 101A Waiting Room
             Located W. of 170 Fwy, Roscoe to Woodman, South past
              Cantara to Willard entrance

Who:         Barry S. Zuckerman, MD, Chairman, Pediatrics, Boston
              Medical Center
             Mary Wilson, MD, Pediatrician, Ass't Area Medical Dir.
              KP Panorama City
             Barbara Carnes, MD, Chief of Service, Pediatrics, KP
              Harbor City Medical Center
             Greg Adams, KFH/HP Senior Vice President, Operations

Visuals:     -- Pediatricians giving books to children, advising
                parents, and writing "Prescriptions for Reading"
             -- Volunteer reading to children in waiting room
             -- Samples of Scholastic Inc. books to be donated

Kaiser Permanente is announcing that, over the next 3 years, Reach Out
and Read will be rolled out to 339 Southern California Permanente
Medical Group pediatricians delivering care to more than a quarter of
a million children under the age of 5.

Pediatricians see children in their most critical years of cognitive
and language development.  This unique program links early childhood
learning to medical care and makes literacy a routine part of
well-child care.  Volunteers read to children in the waiting rooms,
physicians give each child a new book, and parents are told of the
benefits of reading aloud to their child.

Scholastic Inc. Books will donate 17,000 developmentally and
culturally appropriate books, for an approximate total of $75,000 over
the next 3 years.

Kaiser Permanente opened its first Reach Out and Read Program at the
Panorama City Medical Center in 2001.  Rancho Cucamonga, Bonita and
Otay Mesa soon followed, with Gardena, Long Beach and Harbor City
recently adopting the program.