HP Gives $5.5 Million Gift to the Children Of China; HP Medical Equipment Donated to Project HOPE for Shanghai Children's Medical Center.

SHANGHAI, China--(BW HealthWire)--June 1, 1998--Hewlett-Packard Company today announced it is donating $5.5 million in sophisticated patient-monitoring, ultrasound-imaging, clinical-information and resuscitation equipment, along with all necessary accessories and supplies, to the 250-bed Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC), which opened here in the Shanghai Pudong District today.

The new hospital, sponsored by Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) in collaboration with Shanghai Second Medical University, is intended to serve as a model of modern medicine and as a teaching center for Chinese medical personnel countrywide, according to Project HOPE.

"HP's gift is a major contribution to the Shanghai Children's Medical Center," said Leslie Mancuso, M.D. and vice president for Project HOPE's International Medical Operations. "It will provide state-of-the-art monitoring, diagnostic and emergency-response capabilities to help improve pediatric care and enable Chinese healthcare professionals to establish appropriate treatment in life-threatening situations."

"HP is proud to help Project HOPE and its Chinese partners bring the best-possible medical care to the children of China," said Cynthia Danaher, HP vice president and general manager of the Medical Products Group. "We are committed to providing advanced medical technology that makes a difference in the quality of care throughout the world."

HP AND PROJECT HOPE

Since 1960, Project HOPE has helped communities on six continents and in more than 70 countries attain lasting improvements in healthcare by providing health education, health-policy research and humanitarian assistance.

For more than 30 years, HP's Medical Products Group has supplied many of the tools, training materials and medical equipment used by Project HOPE doctors to bring advances in medical care to countries around the world. According to Project HOPE, a previous HP donation to Project HOPE for Xin Hua Hospital, also in Shanghai, is credited with great improvements in the management of heart disease in that city.

"Since 1986, using HP equipment, we have performed echocardiograms for more than 30,000 children," said Chen Shu-Bao, M.D., director of SCMC and a cardiologist at Xin Hua Hospital. "Sophisticated HP monitors have been used widely and have helped us decrease the mortality and morbidity of children with serious medical and surgical conditions."

HP MEDICAL PRODUCTS AT SCMC

SCMC says it intends to use the medical products, accessories and supplies throughout the hospital, including in the emergency department, pediatric intensive-care unit, neonatal intensive-care unit, cardiology labs, surgical suites, biomedical engineering department, observation areas, nursing stations and at patient bedsides.

The hospital's medical staff will use the HP Viridia Patient Care System for patient monitoring and information management; SONOS 5500 Ultrasound Systems for cardiovascular imaging; EnConcert Information Systems for managing cardiac images; PageWriter XLi Cardiographs for obtaining ECGs; and award-winning CodeMaster XL+ defibrillators for cardiac resuscitation.

HP contributed approximately $61.4 million in cash and equipment to universities, schools and charitable organizations around the world in fiscal 1997. Of the total amount, about $48 million was in the form of new HP products, with the balance in cash. HP continued to direct the bulk of its giving for educational purposes. Approximately 76 percent of total grants went to universities, teaching hospitals and primary/secondary schools. Health and human-services agencies received approximately 18 percent, or $11 million, during the year.

ABOUT HP

HP's Medical Products Group is a worldwide leader of clinical measurement and diagnostic technologies, information solutions, services, support and supplies for the healthcare industry. The group has 4,800 employees and had revenues of more than $1.2 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

HP leads the world in acute-care patient monitoring, cardiovascular ultrasound imaging and clinical-information systems for critical care, and is at the forefront of new technologies such as point-of-care diagnostics and predictive instruments. HP is the founding member and chair of the Andover Working Group, a 300-member initiative focused on developing standards-based interoperability between healthcare applications.

HP Medical Products Group is the official patient-monitoring and defibrillator supplier to the 1998 World Cup. Information about HP Medical Products Group can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com/go/medical.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. It is the second-largest computer supplier in the world, with computer-related revenue in excess of $35.4 billion in its 1997 fiscal year. HP has 125,300 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.

HP is the official information-technology hardware and maintenance supplier to the 1998 World Cup. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

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