Joint Venture for Fresenius and St. Francis, Hawaii.

HONOLULU--(BW HealthWire)--May 3, 1999--

Fresenius Medical Care North America, Lexington, MA., and St. Francis Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, today announced the joint venture of a new renal dialysis facility in Honolulu named "Integrated Renal Care of the Pacific" (IRCP). The structure of the joint venture is a limited liability company in which St. Francis Medical Center maintains controlling equity and governance positions, with Fresenius Medical Care North America holding the remaining ownership.

Through the joint venture, IRCP will provide services to both existing St. Francis Medical Center patients and patients of Kaiser Permanente-Hawaii who are cared for under a fully capitated contract with Optimal Renal Care, a disease state management organization established by Fresenius Medical Care North America and Kaiser's Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Through its multi-disciplinary teams, and the use of Fresenius Unique Renal Replacement Therapies, Optimal Renal Care will implement disease management based on protocols similar to those utilized in the Southern California Kaiser Renal Program which has proven effective in reducing patient hospitalizations, while improving patient outcomes and increasing rehabilitation.

With a tentative facility opening scheduled for September 1, 1999, approximately 185 patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) in the greater Honolulu area will have access to progressive dialysis treatment. St. Francis Medical Center will manage and provide clinical oversight of the facility. Fresenius Medical Care North America will oversee business management functions.

Historically, Hawaii suffers from a higher than normal incidence of renal failure, with a 20% increase in the number of ESRD patients over a one-year period (1996-1997) located in the IRCP facility area.

The St. Francis Healthcare System, of which St. Francis Medical Center is a part, has pioneered the establishment of healthcare services for residents of Hawaii beginning more than a century ago with the treatment of leprosy. In the 1960's, St. Francis introduced dialysis services for the state as part of a system which has now grown from a fifty-bed hospital to a five-entity corporation.

According to Sister Gretchen Gilroy, Chief Executive Officer of St. Francis Medical Center, "St. Francis represents a long-standing role as a visionary in the field of healthcare. With the opening of our IRCP dialysis center, we will pioneer a new approach to the care of ESRD patients, especially with the implementation of Fresenius Unique Renal Replacement Therapies that include hi-flux, biocompatible single-use dialyzers, and online-clearance monitoring to assure delivery of prescribed dialysis dosage and ultra-pure dialysate. Eventually we will apply those technologies to our entire population of ESRD patients with the intent of demonstrating better outcomes for those patients."

"The goal of our joint venture is to more effectively and proactively manage outpatient dialysis in order to achieve improved patient outcomes and quality of life", stated J. Michael Channick, M.D., President of FMCNA's business unit, Fresenius Dialysis Services West.

Commented Jared Sugihara, M.D., Co-Medical Director of IRCP, "We are excited about the opportunity to work with an organization of FMCNA's experience and reputation for quality care in order to bring new technology to the people of Hawaii."

St. Francis Medical Center is a comprehensive tertiary healthcare facility in Hawaii and part of the St. Francis Healthcare System. Its Renal Institute is the largest hospital-based provider for end stage renal disease in the U.S., serving approximately 1,000 dialysis patients monthly through facilities located on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and the Big Island.

Fresenius Medical Care North America is the continent's leading provider of renal dialysis products and services. With more than 20,000 employees, the company provides dialysis treatment, manufactures and distributes dialysis products, and performs diagnostic and laboratory testing. Fresenius Medical Care North America is a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world's largest integrated provider of products and services for people with chronic renal failure.