Mid-State Cardiology, The Heart Group Unite with Saint Thomas Health Services to Create Saint Thomas Heart.

Baptist Hospital and Saint Thomas Hospital-Based Cardiology Practices Create Combined Entity That Treats More Than 130,000 Middle Tennessee Heart Patients

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Mid-State Cardiology Associates and The Heart Group have united to form the state's largest private cardiology practice.

The physicians of Mid-State Cardiology, with offices on the Baptist Hospital campus, and The Heart Group, located on the Saint Thomas Hospital campus, will practice under the umbrella of Saint Thomas Heart, a new division of Saint Thomas Health Services (STHS). This combined group of 45 heart specialists sees more than 130,000 heart patients in a 69-county region that stretches throughout Middle Tennessee and into southern Kentucky and northern Alabama. Both practices have offices on the campus of Williamson Medical Center.

Saint Thomas Heart aligns all of Saint Thomas Health Services' heart services, including an extensive network of community clinics, the STHS Chest Pain Center Network with 10 regional partners, and two joint-venture catheterization laboratories, under focused leadership.

"The combination of these practices to create Saint Thomas Heart results in not only the largest private practice of cardiologists in Tennessee, but brings together two practices that have a long-standing history and reputation for quality that are nonpareil," said Jim Houser, President and CEO of Saint Thomas Health Services .

The 15 cardiac specialists at Mid-State Cardiology have practiced at Baptist Hospital for more than 30 years. The group has regional clinics in five communities. The Heart Group, with 30 cardiac specialists, was founded in 1985 and has 22 clinics across Middle Tennessee. The Heart Group joined Saint Thomas Health Services in 2006.

"Cardiologists at Baptist Hospital and Saint Thomas Hospital have been delivering innovative and quality heart care for many years, and together, we can further build upon our decades of experience and expertise to serve patients throughout the region," said Dr. George Crossley, president and CEO for Mid-State Cardiology Associates.

While keeping their individual practice names, both groups will operate under the Saint Thomas Heart umbrella.

The addition of Mid-State Cardiology and the creation of Saint Thomas Heart come on the heels of Saint Thomas Health Services posting its strongest financial numbers in four years. In the 12 months ended June 30, the system posted net income of $95.5 million, more than four times the 2006 number. Operating income last fiscal year was $38.4 million, reversing a $5.0 million loss in fiscal 2006.

"Through initiatives like Saint Thomas Heart, we are continuing to build on more than 200 years in combined history of providing excellent care in faith and values- based environments," Houser said. "The joining of these two practices is but one example of the benefit created when our hospitals came together five years ago as Saint Thomas Health Services."

"This new cardiology practice and Saint Thomas Heart exemplify the forward thinking that makes the Saint Thomas Health Services organization such a leading destination for great cardiac care," said Dr. Howard Walpole of The Heart Group. "We're proud to be a part of Saint Thomas Heart and are excited about moving forward in partnership with Mid-State Cardiology."

Saint Thomas Heart includes:

* Nearly 70 cardiac specialists practicing at Saint Thomas Hospital and Baptist Hospital in Nashville and Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro.

* The Saint Thomas Heart Institute, where cardiac specialists have performed more than 300 heart transplants, 189,000 cardiac catheterizations, 41,000 coronary angioplasties and stents, 58,000 open-heart operations and treated 97,000 cardiac rehabilitation patients.

* A network of 22 community clinics in 20 counties delivering high-quality cardiac care close to home for thousands of patients.

* The Chest Pain Center Network, which includes Nashville's first Chest Pain Center at Baptist Hospital, provides cardiac care and expertise to community-based providers, improving the level of care in their communities. The Network has affiliations with ten facilities in the region and will soon be adding two others.

* Joint-venture catheterization labs in Crossville and Gallatin.

About Saint Thomas Health Services

Saint Thomas Health Services is a faith-based ministry with more than 8,000 associates serving Middle Tennessee. Saint Thomas Health Services' regional health system consists of four hospitals -- Baptist and Saint Thomas in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville - and a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures in diagnostics, cardiac services and ambulatory surgery as well as medical practices, the Center for Spinal Surgery, clinics and rehabilitation facilities. STHS is a member of Ascension Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States.