Broadlane Inc. Signs Surgical Packs and Gowns Agreement With Kimberly-Clark Health Care Business.

Health/Medical Writers

ATLANTA--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 2, 2001

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) today announced that it has entered into a four-year, sole-source agreement to provide surgical drapes, packs and gowns to Broadlane, Inc., a leader in delivering supply chain services to the healthcare industry.

Kimberly-Clark anticipates the new contract will result in sales of more than $120 million over four years.

Robert Abernathy, group president of the Kimberly-Clark Health Care business, said, "We're very pleased to be able to provide our products to the customers of Broadlane. Our surgical packs and gowns provide exceptional protection in the surgical suite and are an important component to a comprehensive risk-management strategy for hospital administrators." Broadlane counts among its customers 572 acute care hospitals and 2,335 sub-acute healthcare facilities located throughout the United States.

"Significant input from our customers is critical when making contract award decisions," said DeAnna Herrin, head of the surgical group in the contracting services department of Broadlane. "Our decision was based on input from Broadlane committees made up of nurses, physicians and hospital materials management executives. This is an acknowledgement from our customers that Kimberly-Clark products will deliver the exceptional clinical quality and financial value they expect."

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a leading consumer and medical products company. Its global tissue, personal care and health care brands include Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex, Scott, Kimberly-Clark, Safeskin, Tecnol, Kimwipes and WypAll. Other brands well known outside the U.S. include Andrex, Scottex, Page, Popee and Kimbies. Kimberly-Clark also is a major producer of premium business, correspondence and technical papers. The company has manufacturing operations in 41 countries and sells its products in more than 150 countries. The Kimberly-Clark Health Care business, headquartered in Roswell, Ga., manufactures and markets surgical drapes, gowns, sterilization wrap and pouches, personal protective apparel and face masks, and patient care products. With the acquisition of Safeskin, Kimberly-Clark added disposable gloves to its product portfolio and now offers head-to-toe protection for health care workers. The company is also a leader in the medical device field with its Ballard Medical lines of closed suction respiratory catheters, enteral feeding tubes and a variety of pain management products. For more information, visit http://www.kchealthcare.com.

About Broadlane

Through an extensive suite of services, Broadlane delivers integrated supply chain management solutions to the healthcare industry. Those services include group purchasing, procurement strategy and outsourcing and e-commerce services. Among the companies that focus on improving efficiencies within the healthcare supply chain, only Broadlane offers this full array of services.

Broadlane customers include leading healthcare providers such as Kaiser Permanente, Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC), Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS), Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH), the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, IASIS Healthcare, Continuum Health Partners, Brim Healthcare and others. Broadlane has offices in San Francisco, Calif., and Dallas, Texas. For more information visit www.broadlane.com.