Alliance Medical Corporation and Vanguard Medical Concepts Announce Plan to Merge; Combined Company to Provide Customers with Lower Costs and Greater Value Thanks to Expanded Products and Services.

PHOENIX & LAKELAND, Fla. -- Alliance Medical Corporation (Alliance) and Vanguard Medical Concepts (Vanguard), two leading independent third-party reprocessors of single-use medical devices (SUDs), today announced plans to merge their operations. The combined company will provide current and future healthcare partners with the greatest reprocessing savings opportunities, more available product services, enhanced field service levels, an undeniable guarantee of quality and FDA compliance, and a continuous stream of new product services from our engineering and product development team as well as unparalleled environmental initiatives.

In order to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market for reprocessing services, the combined company will continue to operate from both the Phoenix and Lakeland facilities. Its 1,700 combined customers will benefit from the combined entity's coast-to-coast sales and service network, greater product offering and the industry's most experienced and largest work force.

The combined company will use Phoenix as its base with a senior management team consisting of current executives from both Alliance and Vanguard. Vanguard's current Chairman, Joe Damico, a Founding Partner of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, will become Chairman of the combined company. John Grotting, Alliance's current Chief Executive Officer, will be the CEO. Charles Masek, Vanguard's founder, CEO & President, has elected to serve the new management team in an advisory position. The senior leaders collectively agree that the combined companies' employees are its most valuable asset and announced that the companies' immediate plans are to retain all current employees to meet its increasing customer needs.

"The merger of Alliance and Vanguard is a significant development for our combined customers who rely on the value of reprocessing to lower costs and provide the best care for their patients," said John Grotting, CEO of the new company. "The complementary offerings of both companies will enhance the benefits of reprocessing to our customers. Every customer will be able to expand their reprocessing program, translating into increased savings for their facility and a further reduction in excess waste being sent to community landfills."

Completion of the merger is expected by the end of calendar 2005. A smooth transition is expected for employees and customers alike.

The reprocessing industry continues to experience tremendous growth. Alliance and Vanguard represent 1,700 customers that are committed to reducing safely their non-salary, supply costs and environmental waste through medical device reprocessing. In the coming year, the combined company expects to help their customers save in excess of $92 million in supply expenses, which may be redirected to patient services. In addition, the combined company expects to eliminate over 7,000 tons of medical waste from the nation's landfills annually.

"The merger of Alliance and Vanguard is welcome news for the growing number of hospitals that are utilizing reprocessing programs as a means to reduce their supply costs," said Amy Anthony, Vice President, Supplier Services of VHA Inc., Irving, Texas. "Reprocessing plays a critical role in reducing the cost of delivering quality care to our patients. We know reprocessing lowers costs and is good for our patients as well as the environment and we welcome this chance to expand our program."

Alliance's current shareholders consist primarily of a syndicate of investors including Apax Partners, Delphi Ventures, Coral Ventures, Valley Ventures, Merrill Lynch, and Affinity Capital, as well as management. Vanguard's primary shareholders are RoundTable Healthcare Partners and management. All existing shareholders will continue as shareholders in the combined company.

About Alliance Medical and Vanguard Medical Concepts

Alliance Medical Corporation (Alliance) and Vanguard Medical Concepts, Inc. (Vanguard) are leading independent third-party reprocessors of specific single-use medical devices (SUDs) and have collectively reprocessed more than 30 million SUDs for over 1,700 healthcare facilities nationwide. Both companies are ISO 13485 certified and hold agreements with all leading national group purchasing organizations as well as numerous nationally recognized hospital integrated delivery networks that collectively represent more than 5,000 healthcare facilities. For more information about Alliance Medical Corporation, visit www.alliance-medical.com. For more information about Vanguard Medical Concepts visit www.safe-reuse.com.