Invacare's Chairman and CEO Named International Executive of the Year by Cleveland World Trade Association.

ELYRIA, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 1999--

Invacare Corporation's chairman and CEO, A. Malachi Mixon, III, was named 1999 International Executive of the Year by the Cleveland World Trade Association at the organization's recent 54th Annual Cleveland World Trade Conference.

Mixon, who accepted the award from the CWTA at a ceremony on May 4th, is the only recipient who has been recognized by the organization a second time as International Executive of the Year. Mixon received the award for the first time in 1992.

Founded in 1915, the Cleveland World Trade Association (CWTA) is the premiere professional association in the field of international trade in Northeast Ohio. CWTA is a volunteer organization whose mission is to educate, develop, network with and represent international business in Northeast Ohio. Membership includes more than 400 individuals and corporations.

Criteria for selection as International Executive of the Year included duration and integrity in international business; achievements and results including quantifiable and tangible results in export sales and other areas of international business; volunteerism, including international business promotion and development organizations, professional organizations and civic non-profit organizations; and a record of high ethical standards and a stellar business reputation, according to the Cleveland World Trade Association.

Invacare Corporation (Nasdaq/NMS:IVCR) is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of health care products to the non-acute care market through more than 25,000 providers. Invacare does business in more than 80 countries. The company, which had 1998 revenues of $797 million, goes to market in the following channels of distribution: home care, mass retail and institutional. Within these channels of distribution, Invacare participates in the following product segments: Home Care, which includes rehab products, respiratory products, manual wheelchairs, home care beds, therapeutic support surfaces and personal care products marketed by Invacare's Home Care Group; Soft Goods and Supplies, which includes ostomy, incontinence, wound care and diabetic supplies marketed by Suburban Ostomy; and Institutional, which includes nursing home beds, patient lifts and slings, nursing home furniture and bathing systems marketed by Invacare Continuing Care Group. The company's headquarters are in Elyria, Ohio, and the firm has manufacturing plants in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.