• Meridian Opens Hamlet Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center

(Tallahassee, FL / June 17, 2008) Meridian Healthcare Group, Inc. ("Meridian") has entered into an agreement to develop and operate a pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in Hamlet, North Carolina. Hamlet is located in Richmond County in the heartland of the Carolinas, 70 miles east of Charlotte and 90 miles southwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. The facility is scheduled to commence operations in July 2008.

The pulmonary rehabilitation clinic is being developed with Sand Hills Regional Medical Center. The Medical Center is operated by Health Management Associates, Inc. (“HMA”) which owns and operates 59 general acute care hospitals in 15 states with approximately 8,500 licensed beds.

“Hamlet Hospital has been serving Richmond County faithfully since it’s founding in 1915 by William Daniel James, M.D. HMA acquired Hamlet Hospital in 1987 and replaced it with a new state of the art facility, Sandhills Regional Medical Center in 2000. Sandhills Regional Medical Center is recognized for its comprehensive medical services and we are pleased to partner with Meridian to bring pulmonary rehabilitation to our medical campus,” said Andy Davis, CEO of Sandhills Regional Medical Center.

“The Hamlet clinic will expand Meridian’s network of North Carolina facilities that include sites in Mooresville, Scotland Neck and Brevard, said Tom R. Futch, Meridian President & CEO. Meridian has been shaping the future of respiratory care for over four decades and we are pleased to expand our services to the residents of Richmond County.”

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.