Acadia Shareholders Approve Merger With MedLecture.Com; New Chairman & CEO Elected, Holding Company Formed; Vote Paves Way For Launch of MedLecture.Com Web Site.

AUBURN, Maine--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 19, 1999--

The shareholders of Acadia National Health Systems, Inc., (OTCBB:ACAD) a national financial and consulting company for physicians and medical service organizations, today gave final approval to the merger between Acadia National and MedLecture.com, an e-commerce company also based in Auburn. As a result of the merger, a new holding company, Acadia Group Inc., has been formed to oversee the development of both business units and other future opportunities. The ticker symbol will remain ACAD.

The move by the shareholders also lays the foundation for the upcoming launch of MedLecture.com, a unique Web-based service offering convenient and easily accessible professional advancement opportunities for physicians in a high quality multi-media format.

The board vote was one of a series of strategic moves implemented today by Acadia to position the company for the 21st century marketplace.

During a daylong meeting of the new Acadia Group board of directors, the board tapped Emile Clavet, a key partner in MedLecture.com, as the new chairman of Acadia, replacing Paul Chute, who chose to step down as chairman and chief executive officer of Acadia National Health Systems.

Chute, 51, former senior financial officer and senior vice president of Stephens Memorial Hospital and Western Maine Health Care in Norway, Maine, will take on new responsibilities at the company after spending two years leading Acadia's conversion to a publicly traded company and overseeing its initial growth.

Clavet, 38, an investment executive who specializes in small business growth, is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine. He has worked for several prestigious investment firms, and is probably best known for leading the financial revival of Bates of Maine, a 150-year-old textile manufacturing facility in Lewiston, Maine, and the oldest cotton mill in the U.S.

"I am honored and excited by this appointment," said Clavet. "A concerted recruiting effort and the merger with MedLecture.com has created an extremely talented senior management base. Our understanding of market-driven business will fuel continued remarkable growth and new opportunities for increased shareholder equity and value."

John W. Holt, Jr., 51, was selected to replace Chute as new chief executive officer. Holt, a recognized expert in marketing strategy, joined the company earlier this year as senior vice president and director of marketing after serving two years as director of special projects for Maine Governor Angus King. Holt also co-founded Holt, Hughes & Stamell, a $20 million multi-national marketing and communications firm in Portland, Maine.

"I appreciate this unique leadership opportunity," said Holt. "We will embrace a strategic management philosophy that understands value and how to create it. The company that deploys educated resources in the marketplace gains the competitive edge. In that spirit, our goal is to be the global leader in financial and educational resources for physicians both on the Internet and beyond."

As a result of the merger, the Acadia Group now becomes the parent of the two wholly owned subsidiaries:

Acadia National Health Systems, Inc., a publicly traded medical financial and consulting company that has become a recognized medical management service organization in New England, offering services that include third party billing, consulting, data management and regulatory compliance.

MedLecture.com, a Web-based provider of multi-disciplinary continuing medical education, featuring grand round lectures provided exclusively by the nation's top medical schools and presented in a high quality multi-media format.

Also today, seven new members were added to Acadia's 11-member board of directors. Joining Chairman Clavet on the Acadia board are:

-- Albert F. Barber, 53, vice chairman and chief operating officer of the online multi-media company, e-Media, of New Canaan, Conn. He is a 27-year veteran of executive posts at General Electric Company, including president of CNBC.

-- Heather D. Blease, 36, president and chairwoman of the board of EnvisioNet Computer Services, a global technology company based in Brunswick, Maine, and a former emerging technology executive at Digital Equipment Corporation.

-- Thomas Caliandro, 39 vice president of content development for the Discovery Channel, Bethesda, Maryland, and former program development manager for the National Geographic Society's television division.

-- Kevin Dean, 35, a partner with Clavet on the Bates of Maine comeback who has a long history of successful business management, including 10 years in healthcare management, reimbursement and budgeting for a $60-million health system.

-- Dr. Douglas Farrago, 34, a practicing family physician in Auburn, Maine, who developed the concept behind MedLecture.com. Dr. Farrango also created and patented The Knee Saver(TM), protective gear worn by the top catchers in baseball.

-- Jeffrey A. Laughlin, 37, a co-founder and chairman of the board of commerce.tv, of Dedham, Massachusetts, and a co-founder and former senior vice president of Open Development Corporation.

-- And, Warren G. Malkerson, 53, chief executive officer of North American Heritage Brands of Fairbault, Minn., and a former senior vice president of L.L. Bean, Inc.

Also on the Acadia Group board are Dr. John L. Crispin, chief anesthesiologist, Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston, Maine; Judith Brown, owner and president of The Judith Brown Company, San Francisco, Calif.; and James D. Delamater, president and chief executive officer, Northeast Bank, FSB, of Auburn, Maine.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the federal securities law. These forward-looking statements include comments on business goals and financial performance. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are delays in product development, undetected errors or bugs in hardware or software, changes in product pricing policies, competitive pressures, contract renewals, general conditions and risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.