Verus Wins Three eHealthcare Leadership Awards for Internet and Intranet Development; Awards Validate Verus' Approach to Evolving Market Needs for Second Year Running.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 25, 2002

Verus Inc., a leading provider of Web solutions for hospitals and health systems, today announced that for the second consecutive year, it won three eHealthcare Leadership Awards at the "Leveraging the Internet & Technology for Profitability" Healthcare Internet and Technology Conference earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona.

Verus won in the following categories:

-- Best Overall Internet Site in the 201-399-bed hospital category for client Holy Name Hospital of Teaneck, N.J., at www.holyname.org,

-- Best Intranet Site in the Healthcare System category for client PeaceHealth of Bellevue, Wash., at www.peacehealth.org,

-- Best Intranet Site in the Healthcare System category for client Health First of Melbourne, Fla., at www.health-first.org.

"With the need for both the internal and external exchange of healthcare information constantly evolving, it is important for companies like ours to stay ahead strategically as well as creatively," explained Thomas Lawry, president and CEO of Verus. "Receiving industry-wide recognition again this year for the quality of our work validates our approach to healthcare Internet development. We are particularly pleased about our two Best Intranet Site awards, which is the first year for this category."

Over the past four months, Verus' strategic and creative input has been reflected in the launch of 15 new Web sites, most of which were for four major health systems:

For Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS), headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn.:

-- Berrien County at www.berriencountyhospital.com,

-- Helena Regional Medical Center at

www.helenaregionalmedicalcenter.com,

-- Northeast Medical Center at www.northeastmc.com,

-- Southampton Memorial Hospital at www.smhfranklin.com.

For Daughters of Charity Health System, based in Los Altos Hills, Calif.:

-- St. Francis at www.stfrancismedicalcenter.com,

-- Seton at www.setonmedicalcenter.org,

-- Seton-Coastside at www.setoncoastside.com.

For the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, headquartered in Leavenworth, Kan., Verus has launched their Montana Regional site, plus sites for the following hospitals:

-- St. Francis -- Topeka at www.stfrancistopeka.org,

-- St. James at www.stjameshealthcare.org,

-- St. Vincent at www.stvincenthealthcare.org,

-- Holy Rosary at www.holyrosaryhealthcare.org.

For Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP), one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the United States and the largest in Ohio:

-- Mercy Health at www.mercy-health.org,

-- Community Health Partners at www.ehealthconnection.com/lorain.

In addition, Verus launched Web sites for two stand-alone hospitals:

-- Willamette Falls Hospital at www.wfhospital.org,

-- Montgomery General Hospital at www.montgomerygeneral.com.

About Verus

Since its inception in 1996, Verus has been dedicated to helping hospitals and health systems plan, develop and manage strategically focused Web services that build revenue, strengthen customer loyalty and decrease costs. Our full continuum offers strategic planning, Web design and development, health content, pre-built applications, Webmaster services and hosting. Satisfied clients range from stand-alone hospitals to America's largest not-for-profit health systems. For more information, please visit us at www.verus-tech.com or call 888/600-0800.

About the eHealthcare Leadership Awards

The eHealthcare Leadership Awards are presented by leading Internet publication and online resource eHealthcare Strategy & Trends. An independent panel of individuals familiar with the healthcare industry and the Internet evaluate entries based on detailed evaluation measures. Web sites are rated based on a standard of Internet excellence and how they compare with others in their group classification. Entries for the eight different categories were received from a wide range of healthcare organizations, both large and small, including online health companies, pharmaceutical firms, and business improvement/vendor sites.