Whittaker Communications Signs $3.7 Million Contract with Franciscan Sisters Health Care Corporation; Whittaker Installs Medical Video-Conferencing System; Connects More than 60 Locations.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 1995--Whittaker Communicaitons, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Whittaker Corporation (NYSE: WKR), announced today that it has signed a $3.7 million agreement to design and install a data network and video- conferencing system for Franciscan Sisters Health Care Corporation (FSHCC), based in Frankfort, Ill. The contract will be managed by SaCor Systems, FSHCC's management information division.

The network will link FSHCC's four suburban Chicago and central Illinois hospitals with 60 clinics, family care centers and physician offices in northern and central Illinois. The network also will link a nursing home in Indiana and SaCor's headquarters in Joliet, Ill.

The network's video-conferencing capability will link all sites within the FSHCC system to one another, and will also provide video- conferencing services to sites outside of the network. Through this system, FSHCC physicians will be able to consult one another or outside specialists on specific cases, giving patients access to caregivers they would otherwise have to travel to see.

"Through our work with FSHCC, we're very pleased to continue our long history of providing sophisticated, customized technical solutions for the medical community," said Mike Gardner, president of Whittaker Communications. "It is particularly gratifying when our technology directly improves patient care, as it does with the video-conferencing system we're creating for Franciscan Sisters."

The network will be built primarily around the company's 14-slot Enterprise Hub, and will also include other Whittaker networking hardware. Installation is expected to be completed by January, 1996.

"We're very pleased to be partnering with Whittaker Communications on this project," said John McKendry, director of customer service for SaCor. "Their long experience in the healthcare technology industry and understanding of our needs has made this a very positive and productive relationship."

Whittaker's Enterprise Hub is available in 5- and 14-slot models and features a modular, multi-segment backplane architecture that can simultaneously support up to three Ethernets, 14 Token Rings and/or FDDI rings and a 1.6 Gbps ATM bus. The Enterprise Hub provides a path to integrated packet- and cell-based traffic throughout a network without replacing the chassis or Enterprise Hub modules.

Franciscan Sisters Health Care Corporation is a Catholic, not-for-profit health care system that includes four acute care hospitals, two nursing homes, more than 20 owned clinics, a senior housing project, college of nursing and management information technology division. Annually, its nearly 6,000 employees and more than 800 physicians care for more than one million patients.

Whittaker Communications, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Whittaker Corporation, develops, manufactures and markets advanced Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) products and systems, including network access products such as enterprise hubs, Ethernet switches, video servers and electronic information processing systems for networked applications. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the company offers worldwide sales, service and support.

Whittaker Corporation, headquartered in Simi Valley, CA, develops specialized electronic and aerospace technologies to create products for telecommunications, aircraft defense and industrial markets worldwide.

CONTACT: Whittaker Communications

Mary Carlisle, 408/565-6389

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Miller Communications

Tim Westermeyer, 310/822-4669

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