Community Health Systems Executes Definitive Agreement to Acquire Granite City, Illinois Hospital.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

BRENTWOOD, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 18, 2001

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 386-bed Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, the only hospital in Granite City, Illinois. Granite City is located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. Regulatory approvals have been received and the closing of the transaction is expected to be effective on January 1, 2002.

The facility, operated by the Sisters of Divine Providence, a Catholic order, will undergo a name change to 'Gateway Regional Medical Center' to reflect its secular status. The hospital provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as physician clinics and other outpatient services in the rural markets it serves, including Edwardsville and Collinsville, Illinois.

"We are very pleased with this transaction, which will be our second acquisition of a Catholic-affiliated facility in southwestern Illinois in the past six months. This facility is located in the type of strategic market we seek for acquisitions, as growth in market share can be realized in communities with Granite City's characteristics," said Wayne T. Smith, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Systems, Inc. "We look forward to working with the high-caliber medical staff, dedicated employees and local leadership to meet the health care needs of the community and at the same time realize our Company's operating and growth strategies."

Located in the Nashville, Tennessee suburb, Brentwood, Community Health Systems is a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities throughout the country. Through its subsidiaries, the company currently owns, leases or operates 57 hospitals in 20 states, including three hospitals in Illinois. Its hospitals offer a broad range of inpatient medical and surgical services, outpatient treatment and skilled nursing care. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CYH."

Statements contained in this news release regarding this to-be-acquired facility and other events are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Community Health Systems, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent filings which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including execution of our growth, acquisition, and business strategies. These and other applicable risks are summarized under the caption "risk factors" in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.