ForHealth Technologies Announces St. Vincent Health Center Purchases PARxD IV as Key Component of Patient Safety and Cost Reduction Initiatives.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting

Booth #216

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2002

Robotic IV Syringe Preparation System is Newest Milestone for

Pennsylvania-Based Healthcare Facility Known for Leadership in

Pharmacy Automation

ForHealth Technologies announces today that St. Vincent Health Center of Erie, Penn., will install and use PARxD IV as part of its overall emphasis on patient safety. PARxD IV is a robotic system that automates the compounding and labeling of up to 300 IV syringes per hour with an accuracy rate far exceeding manual processes. Installation is scheduled for 2003. The announcement comes on the first day of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting in Atlanta.

"For 10 years, St. Vincent Health System has been at the forefront of integrating pharmacy automation and PARxD IV is a perfect fit for our overall emphasis on patient safety and efficiency," says Fred Bender, Pharm.D., Director of Pharmacy at St. Vincent. "PARxD IV allows us to reduce costs, redeploy our pharmacy staff to more direct patient care and improve patient safety."

Established in 1875 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Saint Vincent Health Center is the centerpiece of The Saint Vincent Health System, the parent corporation for a regional network of health-related organizations. Saint Vincent Health Center is a not-for-profit, 450-bed tertiary care facility that features more than 300 staff physicians who provide care in 35 medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. The Health Center admits approximately 16,500 patients annually and treats approximately 200,000 more as outpatients. It is affiliated with Westfield Memorial Hospital of Northern Chautauqua County, New York.

Introduced in December 2001, PARxD IV employs barcode scanning, vision control systems and weight confirmation steps to assure the correct drug is being prepared for the correct patient with precision and speed unmatched by any manual operation. St. Vincent joins a growing list of major healthcare organizations that have purchased PARxD IV, including Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, Mich., Oakwood Health Systems of Dearborn, Mich., Minneapolis Children's Hospital, Clarian Health Partners of Indianapolis and Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. Medical Center.

"St. Vincent Health Center has built a strong reputation for leveraging automation to increase patient safety and manage costs," says ForHealth Technologies Chairman and CEO Rod Wolford. "Their commitment to technology also creates the best possible work environment for their pharmacy professionals by allowing them to work more directly with patients, nurses and physicians."

Founded in 1998, ForHealth Technologies, Inc. (www.fhtinc.com) is a technology company focused on improving the safety and operating efficiencies of small volume IV preparation in hospital pharmacies. The company's initial product, PARxD IV, is a robotic technology that can prepare a high number of syringe-based doses per hour with a level of accuracy greater than what can be achieved manually. PARxD IV is live at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. Installations are planned at other major health care facilities, including Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, Mich., Oakwood Health Systems of Dearborn, Mich., Minneapolis Children's Hospital, Clarian Health Partners, Indianapolis, and Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., Medical Center.