• Meridian Renews Northern Cochise Community Hospital Contact

(Tallahassee, FL / October 19, 2007) Meridian Healthcare Group, Inc. ("Meridian") has entered into an agreement to extend its management of the respiratory care services at Northern Cochise Community Hospital in Wilcox, Arizona through 2010.

Northern Cochise Community Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital located in Wilcox, Arizona. Wilcox is located in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona and 80 miles west of Tucson.

“Meridian has provided respiratory care services to Northern Cochise Community Hospital since 2001. We are pleased that the hospital’s Board of Directors has elected to continue to work with Meridian to meet its medical needs for respiratory care and pulmonary diagnostic services,” said Tom R. Futch, Meridian President & CEO.

Meridian Healthcare Group, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, is a nationally recognized leader in the field of pulmonary medicine providing services to patients in thirty-eight states.

As one of the largest providers of contract therapy and disease state management in the United States, Meridian has built a national network of clinical programs in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, homecare centers, polysomnography laboratories and respiratory pharmacies.

Back