FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Barb Meyer
Executive Director - Corporate Communications
Sisters of Mercy Health System www.mercy.net
v: 314.628-3633
f: 314.628-3734
e: bmeyer@corp.mercy.net

SISTERS OF MERCY HEALTH SYSTEM APPOINTS NEW BOARD MEMBERS

St. Louis, MO (June 24, 2005) – The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) has appointed Eric Jackson and Charles E. Thoele to Mercy’s Board of Directors, effective July 1, for three-year terms.

Jackson is general manager and member of the Board of Directors of Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was a member of the board of St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Center in Hot Springs from 1993 to 2005, and served as board chair the last four years. Jackson has been honored with the DeSoto Award for lifetime contribution to economic development and tourism in Hot Springs and Arkansas, and has been a recipient of the Outstanding Young Arkansan and Governor’s Volunteer Excellence awards for the state of Arkansas.

Thoele has been affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy Health System for more than 39 years, most recently serving as board chair of St. John’s Mercy Health Care in St. Louis. Leadership positions held by Thoele throughout his career with Mercy have included chief operating officer of the Sisters of Mercy Health System; president/CEO of St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis and St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Washington, Missouri; and president/CEO of St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield, Missouri. He previously served on Mercy’s Board of Directors from 1986 to 1993.

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The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) operates hospitals, physician practices, outpatient clinics, health plans and related health and human services in a seven state area including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Its members include 18 acute care hospitals providing more than 4,000 licensed beds, a heart hospital, a managed care subsidiary (Mercy Health Plans), physician practices, outpatient care facilities, home health programs, skilled nursing services and long-term care facilities. Services are provided by approximately 26,000 co-workers and 3,100 physicians who are employed or practice at Mercy facilities. Mercy is the 9th largest Catholic healthcare system in the United States based on net patient service revenue and is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy–St. Louis Regional Community.

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