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The magnitude of the Ebola outbreak, especially in Liberia and Sierra Leone, has been underestimated for a number of reasons.

Many families hide infected loved ones in their homes. As Ebola has no cure, some believe infected loved ones will be more comfortable dying at home.

Others deny that a patient has Ebola and believe that care in an isolation ward – viewed as an incubator of the disease – will lead to infection and certain death. Most fear the stigma and social rejection that come to patients and families when a diagnosis of Ebola is confirmed.

These are fast-moving outbreaks, creating challenges for the many international partners providing support. Quantities of staff, supplies, and equipment, including personal protective equipment, cannot keep up with the need. Hospital and diagnostic capacities have been overwhelmed.

Many treatment centres and general clinics have closed. Fear keeps patients out and causes medical staff to flee.

In rural villages, corpses are buried without notifying health officials and with no investigation of the cause of death. In some instances, epidemiologists have travelled to villages and counted the number of fresh graves as a crude indicator of suspected cases.

In parts of Liberia, a phenomenon is occurring that has never before been seen in an Ebola outbreak. As soon as a new treatment facility is opened, it is immediately filled with patients, many of whom were not previously identified. This phenomenon strongly suggests the existence of an invisible caseload of patients who are not being detected by the surveillance system.

For example in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, an Ebola treatment centre with 20 beds, which opened last week, was immediately overwhelmed with more than 70 patients.

An additional problem is the existence of numerous “shadow-zones”. These are villages with rumours of cases and deaths, with a strong suspicion of Ebola as the cause, that cannot be investigated because of community resistance or lack of adequate staff and vehicles.

In some areas, most notably Monrovia, virtually all health services have shut down. This lack of access to any form of health care contributed to the mobbing incident on Saturday at an Ebola holding facility in the West Point township, Liberia’s most disease-prone slum.

Rumours spread that the holding facility, hastily set up by local authorities in an abandoned schoolhouse, was actually a clinic for general health care. People from other communities brought their ailing family members there, where they were housed together with suspected Ebola patients.

The presence of patients from these other communities was resented by the West Point community, and this resentment contributed to the riot and subsequent looting, in which potentially contaminated materials were carried into these communities.

WHO epidemiologists in Sierra Leone and Liberia are working with other agencies, including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to produce more realistic estimates and thus communicate the true magnitude of needs.

Siemens Healthcare plans to divest its hospital information system business (HS) for US$ 1.3 billion (around €963 million) in cash to the US-based company Cerner Corp. The HS business is focused on administrative hospital IT and electronic patient records, thus different from information technology that enhances the capabilities of imaging modalities and laboratory equipment.

It is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States and employs some 6,000 employees worldwide with operations in the US, in Europe (particularly Germany), and in Asia. The transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and planned to close during the first quarter of calendar year 2015.

The transaction is fully aligned with the overall strategy of Siemens – Vision 2020. “In the recent years, we have continuously invested in our HS-portfolio and achieved significant progress on the technology side. At the same time, we realized that business success of our hospital information systems could not always keep pace with our competition”, says Hermann Requardt, CEO Siemens Healthcare. “Additionally an increasing number of country-specific requirements, such as resulting from US healthcare reform, make it increasingly challenging to achieve sufficient scale effects. Going forward we will focus on the development of information systems that support our businesses in laboratory diagnostics as well as imaging and therapy.”

The takeover of the business by Cerner provides a positive perspective for customers and employees, as Cerner has a proven expertise and is one of the leading players in the market. At the same time with the divestment, Siemens Healthcare and Cerner are engaging in a strategic alliance in the field of Next Generation Healthcare IT. Next Generation Healthcare IT is one of the future focus fields of action for Siemens Healthcare.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas. For over 165 years, Siemens has stood for technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. The company is one of the world’s largest providers of environmental technologies. Around 43 percent of its total revenue stems from green products and solutions. In fiscal 2013, which ended on September 30, 2013, revenue from continuing operations totaled €75.9 billion and income from continuing operations €4.2 billion. At the end of September 2013, Siemens had around 362,000 employees worldwide on the basis of continuing operations. Further information is available on the Internet at: http://www.siemens.com.

Pfizer Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Baxter International Inc.’s portfolio of marketed vaccines for $635 million. As part of the transaction, Pfizer will also acquire a portion of Baxter’s facility in Orth, Austria, where these vaccines are manufactured.

Baxter’s portfolio of marketed vaccines consists of NeisVac-C and FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac. NeisVac-C is a vaccine that helps protect against meningitis caused by group C meningococcal meningitis (MenC). This serious infection of the membrane covering the brain may be fatal in roughly 10-15 percent of patients1 and 30 percent to more than 50 percent of survivors may suffer from severe physical, social and mental damage2. MenC is one of the most prevalent meningococcal serogroups in many parts of the world and vaccination with NeisVac-C has been shown to be highly effective.

FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is a vaccine that helps protect against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), an infection of the brain, which is transmitted by the bite of ticks infected with the TBE-virus. Every year, the TBE virus causes thousands of cases of neuroinvasive illness in humans across Europe and Asia and is a growing public health concern in Europe and other parts of the world3. FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac is approved in 30 countries and has been marketed for over 30 years with approximately 120 million doses produced since 1976.

“Vaccines make a tremendous and valuable impact on public health around the world. They have significantly reduced the threat of widespread and often fatal diseases and every day people of all ages benefit from safe and effective vaccines,” said Susan Silbermann, Pfizer Vaccines President. “For over a decade Pfizer has been the global leader in pneumococcal disease prevention. We are working hard to bring innovative vaccines to market that prevent and treat serious diseases. Through this acquisition, we will add two high-quality and life-saving vaccines that bring scale and depth to our portfolio.”

Pfizer does not expect this transaction to have an impact on its 2014 financial guidance issued on July 29, 2014. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals in several markets, including some countries in the European Union, and is expected to occur by the end of 2014. There are other closing conditions customary in a transaction of this nature.

Pfizer’s legal advisor for the transaction was Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC served as the financial advisor.

About Pfizer Inc.
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world’s best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. To learn more, please visit us at www.pfizer.com.

Walgreens Board of Directors Exercises Option to Complete Second Step of Strategic Partnership with Alliance Boots and Fully Combine Both Companies, Creating First Global Pharmacy-Led, Health and Wellbeing Enterprise

Walgreens to seek shareholder approval in connection with acquisition of remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots after initial 45 percent investment completed in 2012
Option exercise accelerated ahead of original option period
Fully combined company to have blended senior management team including Greg Wasson as president and CEO and Stefano Pessina as executive vice chairman of combined company, responsible for strategy and M&A Pessina also to chair new strategy committee of the board of directors
The new Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. holding company will be headquartered in the Chicago area
Company outlines new three-year “Next Chapter” plan that sets strategic goals for the combined company
Walgreens establishes new adjusted EPS goal for fiscal 2016 of $4.25-$4.60
Company accelerating cost-reduction initiatives targeted to achieve $1 billion in savings by end of fiscal 2017
Walgreens board of directors authorizes new capital allocation policy that includes a new $3 billion share repurchase program; declares 7.1 percent quarterly dividend increase to 33.75 cents per share

DEERFIELD, Ill., August 06, 2014 – Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) today said it has exercised its option to complete the second step of its strategic transaction with Alliance Boots GmbH ahead of the original option period, which was between February and August 2015. The transaction, subject to shareholder and various regulatory approvals, would fully combine the two companies to form the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise.

This action follows the launch of the companies’ long-term strategic partnership in June 2012, when Walgreens acquired a 45 percent equity ownership in Alliance Boots, with the option to proceed to a full combination by acquiring the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots in three years’ time (Step 2). Walgreens expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of calendar 2015.

Walgreens also announced the following decisions related to moving forward with Step 2:

A new holding company to be formed in connection with the transaction will be named Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., and will include four divisions: Walgreen Co. (the largest drugstore chain in the United States); Boots (the U.K. and Republic of Ireland’s leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer); Pharmaceutical Wholesale and International Retail (including Alliance Healthcare, Europe’s largest pharmaceutical wholesaler); and Global Brands. In addition, the combined company is establishing a cross-divisional global pharmacy market access group.
Upon closing, the combined enterprise will blend senior management from both companies including Walgreens President, CEO and board member Greg Wasson who will be president and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, who will be executive vice chairman of the combined company responsible for strategy and M&A reporting to Wasson, and chairman of a new strategy committee of the board of directors.
Jim Skinner will serve as the non-executive chairman of the board of directors for the combined company.
The Walgreens Boots Alliance holding company will be headquartered in the Chicago area, while Walgreens operations will remain headquartered in Deerfield, Ill. Boots operations also will remain headquartered at its current location in Nottingham, U.K.
The company is outlining a new three-year “Next Chapter” plan through fiscal 2017 that sets strategic goals for the combined company. The plan reflects significant value-creating opportunities for the combined enterprise to drive long-term shareholder value.
In conjunction with its strategic plan, the company is establishing a new adjusted earnings per share goal for fiscal 2016 of $4.25-$4.60.
The adjusted EPS goal includes accelerated cost reduction initiatives that target $1 billion in savings by the end of fiscal 2017 to establish an efficient global enterprise.
Walgreens board of directors also authorized a new capital allocation policy that includes a $3 billion share repurchase program through the end of fiscal 2016. In addition, the board declared a 7.1 percent quarterly dividend increase to 33.75 cents per share.
Walgreens Boots Alliance combines two leading companies with iconic brands, complementary geographic footprints, shared values and a heritage of trusted health care services through pharmaceutical wholesaling and community pharmacy care, dating back more than 100 years each. Combining the companies will create a new global leader in pharmacy-led health and wellbeing retail with more than 11,000* stores in 10* countries and an unparalleled portfolio of retail and business brands, as well as increasingly global health and beauty product brands. The full combination also will establish the world’s largest pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution network with more than 370* distribution centers delivering to more than 180,000* pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals in 20* countries. Walgreens Boots Alliance will be the world’s largest purchaser of prescription drugs and many other health and wellbeing products. The combined size, scale and expertise will help Walgreens and Alliance Boots expand the supply, and address the rising cost, of prescription drugs in America and worldwide.

“We are excited to move forward with the next important step in becoming a new kind of global health care leader,” said Wasson. “Expanding globally with Alliance Boots will make quality health care more affordable and accessible to communities here in America and around the world. In addition, Stefano and I are pleased with the comprehensive plan we’ve announced today as part of Step 2. These elements will provide additional shareholder value creation, both in the near and long term. I congratulate our teams for getting us to this point and together we have a bright future.”

Pessina said, “The expected creation of the new enterprise will represent the most significant milestone in the history of Alliance Boots and, importantly, a very positive step for the health care industry as a whole. Together with Walgreens, we have already made good progress over the past two years and I strongly believe that the merger will bring significant growth opportunities for both mature and emerging markets. Today’s announcement reflects the great track record and accomplishments of our people to date and I am convinced that their skills, expertise and commitment will continue to make a positive contribution in the years to come. This combination is a true partnership, further evidenced by the composition of the future management team of Walgreens Boots Alliance.”

Under the terms of the revised agreement announced today, the period during which Walgreens is permitted to exercise its option to acquire the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots that it does not currently own, in exchange for £3,133 million in cash (equivalent to approximately $5.29 billion at a current $1.69=£1 exchange rate) payable in British pounds sterling, and approximately 144.3 million shares of common stock of Walgreens, has been accelerated to begin on Aug. 5, 2014 and end on Feb. 5, 2015. Pursuant to the agreement, Walgreens exercised the option through an affiliate on Aug. 5.

Blended Management Team

Leading Walgreens Boots Alliance will be a top management team led by Wasson and consisting of senior executives from both companies. In addition to Wasson’s and Pessina’s roles, the following appointments are being announced:

Ornella Barra, chief executive, Wholesale and Brands of Alliance Boots, will become executive vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president and chief executive of global wholesale and international retail.
Jeff Berkowitz, president of Walgreens Boots Alliance Development GmbH, will serve as executive vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of pharma and global market access, which will include responsibility for specialty pharmacy.
Alex Gourlay, Walgreens president of customer experience and daily living, will become executive vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of Walgreens.
Tim McLevish, previously announced as Walgreens executive vice president and chief financial officer, will serve in that role in a global capacity for Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Ken Murphy, managing director, Health & Beauty International and Brands of Alliance Boots, will serve as executive vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of global brands.
Simon Roberts, managing director, Health & Beauty, UK and the Republic of Ireland of Alliance Boots, will serve as executive vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of Boots.
Tom Sabatino, Walgreens chief administrative officer and general counsel, will serve as executive vice president and global chief legal and administrative officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Tim Theriault, chief information, innovation and improvement officer at Walgreens, will assume the role of executive vice president and global chief information officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, Walgreens chief human resources officer, will become executive vice president and global chief human resources officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Domicile of Walgreens Boots Alliance Enterprise

The fully combined Walgreens Boots Alliance global enterprise will be domiciled in the United States and headquartered in the Chicago area. Walgreens operations will remain headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., and Boots operations will remain headquartered at its current location in Nottingham, U.K.

In connection with moving forward with the option exercise, and given the potentially significant business, financial, legal and competitive implications, Walgreens management and the board of directors thoroughly evaluated the possibility of combining Walgreens and Alliance Boots under a foreign parent company in an “inversion” transaction. The original option transaction would not qualify for an inversion under the current tax inversion rules. The company and board of directors, including a special committee of independent directors, and with the benefit of leading advisors in the fields of tax policy and inversions, undertook an extensive analysis to explore the feasibility of a restructured inversion transaction that would provide the company with the customary level of confidence needed to withstand IRS review and scrutiny. As part of this process, the company considered a wide range of issues, including the potential financial benefits (and their sustainability) and the technical viability of a restructured inversion transaction under current U.S. law. The company also was mindful of the ongoing public reaction to a potential inversion and Walgreens unique role as an iconic American consumer retail company with a major portion of its revenues derived from government-funded reimbursement programs.

“In line with our fiduciary duty to the company and our shareholders, we undertook an extensive and rigorous analysis with a team of leading experts to determine the most optimal – and sustainable – course of action,” said Wasson. “We took into account all factors, including that we could not arrive at a structure that provided the company and our board with the requisite level of confidence that a transaction of this significance would need to withstand extensive IRS review and scrutiny. As a result the company concluded it was not in the best long-term interest of our shareholders to attempt to re-domicile outside the U.S. The board did, however, believe accelerating the option to exercise Step 2 was in the best interest of our shareholders, and with this decision, we are now moving forward on an accelerated basis to create the global leader in pharmacy-led health and wellbeing.”

Three-Year “Next Chapter” Plan and Financial Goals

With the full combination, Walgreens Boots Alliance will be positioned for a new era of profitable growth and is aggressively pursuing future opportunities to drive sustainable shareholder value over the long term. To do so, the company is launching a new three-year “Next Chapter” plan that will maximize the scope and scale of the new combined company. Through the plan, core business performance will be accelerated by providing:

A differentiated retail experience that transforms the retail model for health and wellness and changes the way women shop for beauty
Integrated pharmacy and health care that advance the role of pharmacists and provide access to innovative health care services
Global pharmaceutical services that reinvent the pharmaceutical value chain and deliver a seamless specialty pharmacy model
With the plan, the combined company is establishing goals for fiscal 2016 including revenue of between $126 billion and $130 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $4.25 to $4.60. In addition, the combined company anticipates exceeding the previously established $1 billion synergy goal.

The company’s continuing focus on improving core performance in the near-term at both Walgreens and Alliance Boots also remains a critical component of the “Next Chapter” plan. “As we launch our global plan, we are more focused than ever on what it will take to compete and succeed on the world stage,” said Wasson. “We are uniquely positioned to be a leader and a champion for accessible, affordable health care, and that means continuing to innovate, to find new ways to be as efficient as possible, and more agile and nimble as we compete in the worldwide market. We also are encouraged by the improving performance of our daily living business and the further potential of our expanded beauty and own brands portfolio to drive margin expansion.”

Cost Reduction Initiative

As part of the combined company’s goal to establish an efficient global platform, the management team is accelerating a multi-faceted cost-reduction initiative across the enterprise. The $1 billion, three-year plan includes corporate, field and store-level cost reductions. The company is making significant progress in an effort that is already under way in order to begin realizing incremental benefits in fiscal 2015. Additional details will be provided in coming quarters as the company recognizes certain costs associated with these initiatives. These cost savings are additive to the synergies discussed above.

“Walgreens has demonstrated a strong focus on cost control as adjusted SG&A growth has slowed significantly from historical trends,” said Wasson. “We have made this impact by driving efficiencies across the enterprise, and we are continuing to focus on that. Earlier this year, we announced enterprise optimization initiatives to further accelerate these efforts, which we’ve executed this fiscal year through strategic closures of certain distribution centers and stores, exiting certain businesses and driving cost reduction programs at our headquarters and in the field. We also plan to expand these efforts as we leverage the expertise of both companies and move forward integrating Walgreens and Alliance Boots.”

Capital Allocation Policy

The board of directors has approved a new capital allocation policy for the combined enterprise. The policy is designed to ensure a balanced and disciplined approach to capital intended to drive business growth and generate strong returns, while returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases over the long term. The key elements of the new capital allocation policy include:

Investing across core businesses at suitable returns to drive organic growth
Pursuing strategic opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions, that are consistent with the company’s strategy, meet its return requirements, are accretive and drive long-term growth
Maintaining a strong balance sheet and financial flexibility with a commitment to solid investment grade credit ratings to govern future capital allocation.
Returning cash to shareholders by targeting a 30-35 percent long-term dividend payout ratio and a new $3 billion share repurchase authorization through the end of fiscal 2016.
In addition, the board of directors of Walgreen Co. on Aug. 5, 2014 increased the quarterly dividend to 33.75 cents per share, a 7.1 percent increase over the year-ago quarterly dividend of 31.5 cents per share. The increased dividend is payable Sept. 12, 2014, to shareholders of record Aug. 21, 2014, and raises the annual rate from $1.26 per share to $1.35 per share. This marks the 39th consecutive year Walgreens has raised its dividend.

“This is a pivotal moment in Walgreens history as we venture ahead from the best corners in America to the four corners of the world,” said Wasson. “In a changing global marketplace with new opportunities and challenges, we will serve our communities, our country and the world in ways we could never have imagined even a few years ago.”

Walgreens financial advisors in connection with the second step of the Alliance Boots transaction are Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Lazard, and its legal advisors are Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Allen Overy.

Walgreens will hold a one-hour conference call to discuss the Alliance Boots transaction and related matters beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern time today, Aug. 6. The conference call will be simulcast through Walgreens investor relations website at: http://investor.walgreens.com. A replay of the conference call will be archived on the website for 12 months after the call. A podcast also will be available on the investor relations website.

The replay also will be available from 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, Aug. 6 through Aug. 13, by calling 855-859-2056 within the U.S. and Canada, or 404-537-3406 outside the U.S. and Canada, using replay code 82609242.

* Note: Figures include Alliance Boots associates and joint ventures

About Walgreens
As the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2013 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to be the first choice in health and daily living for everyone in America, and beyond. Each day, in communities across America, more than 8 million customers interact with Walgreens using the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with online and mobile services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,192 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens digital business includes Walgreens.com, drugstore.com, Beauty.com, SkinStore.com and VisionDirect.com. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that manages more than 400 in-store convenient care clinics throughout the country.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today $106.7 million in FY 2014 grant awards to 46 states, the District of Columbia, and five jurisdictions as part of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (Home Visiting Program) established by the Affordable Care Act. These funds will allow states to continue and expand voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children up to age five.

“The Home Visiting Program helps to ensure that young families have the option to participate in a program that promotes their children’s healthy growth and development,” Secretary Burwell said. “Today’s announcement provides continued funding to support local home visiting programs as they work to improve the lives of children and families.”

The Home Visiting Program builds upon decades of scientific research, which shows that families that choose home visits by a nurse, social worker, or early childhood educator during pregnancy and in the first years of life benefit from important support services for healthy children and families. Home visit programs have been shown to prevent child abuse and neglect, and promote child health and development.

“These awards allow states to reach more parents and families in an effort to improve children’s health while at the same time building essential supports within their communities,” said Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., RN, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

HRSA administers the Home Visiting Program in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families to provide states with the resources they need to expand home visiting programs and early childhood systems.

The Home Visiting Program serves as one part of a prenatal to age five continuum with the other parts of President Obama’s Early Learning Initiative: both high-quality infant and toddler care through Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships and universal Pre-K to optimize the essential foundations in early childhood for future healthy development and well-being.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and InnoPharma, Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical development company, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer will acquire InnoPharma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will acquire InnoPharma for an upfront cash payment of $225 million, with up to $135 million of contingent milestone payments.

InnoPharma’s current portfolio includes 10 generic products approved by the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company also has a pipeline of 19 products filed with FDA and more than 30 injectable and ophthalmic products under development. The company seeks to develop novel formulations of existing drugs, including hard-to-make products, such as those that require complex manufacturing capabilities or have bio-equivalency challenges, in areas such as cancer and central nervous disorders.

“Today’s announcement is an important milestone as we continue to look for innovative growth opportunities for our sterile injectables portfolio, which will increase to seventy three products with this acquisition,” said John Young, group president, Pfizer Global Established Pharma (GEP). “InnoPharma’s technical capabilities in bringing complex generics to market, coupled with its strong talent and product pipeline, build on our efforts to develop and commercialize critically important medicines for the patients who need them.”

Pfizer Injectables is part of the Global Established Pharma business and includes the manufacturing, production and sale of human pharmaceutical and surgiceutical products. The current active sterile injectable portfolio consists of 44 products with over 190 presentations in the U.S. The new Pfizer portfolio of seventy three products will include currently marketed, as well as products filed with the FDA.

Established in 2005, InnoPharma has a comprehensive research and development facility in Piscataway, NJ. The company has developed capabilities in complex injectable delivery forms, including pens and depot injectibles, and is working to leverage this expertise to expand into new dosage forms, including oral suspensions and nasals.

“InnoPharma has emerged as a strong development company over the years, with a portfolio of complex and differentiated products that provide value and options to patients and payors, and has an excellent team that has executed on this business model so successfully,” said Navneet Puri, PhD, President and CEO of InnoPharma. “We are very pleased to continue to provide this value as part of Pfizer, which has demonstrated its leadership within the pharmaceutical industry and a focus on improving patient health.”

The closing of the transaction is subject to U.S. regulatory approval and is expected to occur during the third quarter.

Pfizer’s legal advisor for the transaction was Kaye Scholer LLP. J.P. Morgan served as InnoPharma’s financial advisor, while Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as its legal advisor.

Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world®
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world’s best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. To learn more, please visit us at www.pfizer.com.

About InnoPharma, Inc.
InnoPharma is a sterile product development company, focused on developing complex generic and innovative specialty pharmaceutical products in injectable and ophthalmic dosage forms. The Company has a broad portfolio of products under development, with formulations including solutions, suspension, lyophilized, emulsions, liposomes, micelles and lipid complexes. InnoPharma’s pipeline includes small molecules with solubility and stability challenges, as well as difficult to produce and characterize polypeptides and carbohydrates. The Company has a comprehensive infrastructure for the development of its products in its state of the art R&D facilities in New Jersey, with the capability to handle potent and cytotoxic molecules. More information can be found at www.innopharmainc.com.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today the release of a new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, estimating that 10.3 million uninsured adults gained health care coverage following the first open enrollment period in the Health Insurance Marketplace. The report examines trends in insurance before and after the open enrollment period and finds greater gains among those states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act.

“We are committed to providing every American with access to quality, affordable health services and this study reaffirms that the Affordable Care Act has set us on a path toward achieving that goal,” said Secretary Burwell. “This study also reaffirms that expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is important for coverage, as well as a good deal for states. To date, 26 states plus D.C. have moved forward with Medicaid expansion. We’re hopeful remaining states will come on board and we look forward to working closely with them.”

According to the authors’ findings, the uninsured rate for adults ages 18 to 64 fell from 21 percent in September 2013 to 16.3 percent in April 2014. After taking into account economic factors and pre-existing trends, this corresponded to a 5.2 percentage-point change, or 10.3 million adults gaining coverage. The decline in the uninsured was significant for all age, race/ethnicity, and gender groups, with the largest changes occurring among Latinos, blacks, and adults ages 18-34 – groups the Administration targeted for outreach during open enrollment.

Coverage gains were concentrated among low-income adults in states expanding Medicaid and among individuals in the income range eligible for Marketplace subsidies. The study finds a 5.1 percentage point reduction in the uninsured rate associated with Medicaid expansion, while in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs, the change in the uninsured rate among low-income adult populations was not statistically significant.

Today’s study also looks at access to care, and finds that within the first six months of gaining coverage, more adults (approximately 4.4 million) reported having a personal doctor and fewer (approximately 5.3 million) experienced difficulties paying for medical care.

Today’s study does not include data from before 2012, as coverage was changing rapidly during this period. This means the results do not include the more than 3 million young adults who gained health insurance coverage through their parents’ plans.

The analysis builds on previous studies by reviewing a larger sample size and taking into account changes in the economy and pre-existing trends in insurance coverage. Using survey data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index for January 1, 2012, through June 30, 2014, the authors analyzed changes in the uninsured rate over time. This is also the first study to associate reductions in the uninsured rate with state-level statistics on enrollment in the Marketplaces and Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, as described in HHS enrollment reports, and to assess the impact of the improved coverage on access to care.

www.hhs.gov

WOONSOCKET, R.I., — CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) announced today it has entered into new clinical affiliations with four major health care providers to enhance access to high-quality, affordable health care services for patients. The collaborating health care providers include ProHealth Physicians in Connecticut, Texas Health Resources in Texas, Palmetto Health in South Carolina and The Baton Rouge Clinic in Louisiana. Through these clinical affiliations the patients of these health care providers will receive access to clinical support, medication counseling, chronic disease monitoring and wellness programs at CVS/pharmacy stores and MinuteClinic, the retail health care division of CVS Caremark. In addition, CVS Caremark will provide critical prescription and visit information to those health care providers through the integration of secured electronic medical record (EMR) systems.

CVS/pharmacy currently has more than 7,600 retail pharmacy locations across the U.S. where CVS pharmacists provide counseling to patients to help them be adherent to their chronic disease medications. Of the total retail pharmacy locations, more than 800 MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics are available. MinuteClinic locations are open seven days a week, offering evening hours with no appointment necessary and most health insurance is accepted. The clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners who provide treatment for common family illnesses and administer wellness and prevention services, including health-condition monitoring for patients with chronic diseases.

“We look forward to working with these health care providers to develop collaborative programs that improve patient outcomes, lower costs and help people on their path to better health,” said Troyen A. Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CVS Caremark. “Through these clinical affiliations, we will also be integrating our electronic medical records and information systems to enable us to support patients with medication counseling and chronic disease monitoring.”

The participating health care providers will receive data on interventions conducted by CVS pharmacists to improve medication adherence for their patients. The affiliation also encourages collaboration between the health care providers and MinuteClinic providers to improve coordination of care for patients seen at MinuteClinic locations. Physicians affiliated with the participating health care providers will collaborate with MinuteClinic nurse practitioners to work closely on joint clinical programs and care coordination activities. If more comprehensive care is needed, patients can follow up with their primary care provider and have access to the services at the health care provider as appropriate. For those patients who do not have regular access to health care, MinuteClinic provides assistance in finding a primary care physician and a greater opportunity for continuity of health care services.

“Finding cost-effective ways to increase access to care continues to be important, especially in this era of health care reform, and we are pleased to work together with these health care providers to help coordinate comprehensive care for their patients,” said Dr. Brennan. “Many patients rely on their local pharmacist for information and support regarding their prescription medications and these affiliations enable CVS pharmacists to help improve affiliated health care providers’ patient health outcomes through better medication adherence. MinuteClinic also plays an important role by providing patients with timely, affordable and high-quality walk-in health care.”

MinuteClinic, CVS/pharmacy and the participating health care providers will begin to work toward integrating EMR systems to streamline communication around all aspects of each individual patient’s care. This integration will include the electronic sharing of messages and alerts from CVS/pharmacy to the health care providers’ physicians regarding potential medication non-adherence issues. In addition, MinuteClinic will electronically share medical histories and visit summaries with the patient’s primary care provider when they are a member of a participating health care provider. MinuteClinic will continue its standard practice of sending patient visit summaries to primary care providers who are not affiliated with one of these participating health care providers via fax or mail, typically within 24 hours, with patient consent.

The new clinical affiliations announced here bring the total number of health system and health care provider affiliations for CVS Caremark and MinuteClinic to 40 major health systems and health care providers across the country. These four new affiliations include clinical collaborations with MinuteClinic combined with data on interventions performed by CVS pharmacists.

About CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark is dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company’s more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 64 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 800 MinuteClinic locations, it is a market leader in mail order, retail and specialty pharmacy, retail clinics, and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. As a pharmacy innovation company with an unmatched breadth of capabilities, CVS Caremark continually strives to improve health and lower costs by developing new approaches such as its unique Pharmacy Advisor program that helps people with chronic diseases such as diabetes obtain and stay on their medications. Find more information about how CVS Caremark is reinventing pharmacy for better health at info.cvscaremark.com.

LONDON, Ky., –U.S. Department of Agriculture Administrator for Rural Housing Services and Community Facilities Tony Hernandez announced $4.3 million to expand health care services and create local jobs in eastern Kentucky. The funds will increase hospital capacity, expand health care services, and create continued economic opportunity in the region.

“The ability to access good quality health care directly impacts people’s everyday lives and influences the choices people make about where to live and where to start a business,” said Hernandez. “Long-term investments that expand access to health care, education and good jobs build strong rural communities with a good quality of life for families.”

Today’s announcement includes a $4.2 million USDA Community Facilities Loan to the South Williamson Appalachian Regional Hospital in Pike County to expand and renovate the facility. The project will expand bed capacity in the intensive care unit (ICU), improve the heating and ventilation system and upgrade facilities in the ICU and emergency room areas. This upgrade will expand the hospital’s ability to serve the region in a state which is number one in the nation for cancer mortality rates and over 31 percent of adults are obese.

The announcement was made at the Hazard Community Technical College where USDA, the Appalachian Regional Commission and other federal agencies discussed partnership opportunities to benefit the regional community. Strengthening the health care sector is considered a top priority for the economic growth in the area.

Yesterday, USDA Rural Development Kentucky State Director Tom Fern announced an $115,000 USDA investment in partnership with the Kentucky Highlands Investment Company (KHIC), the Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corporation and Stallworth Internal Medicine and Pediatrics to develop a revolving loan fund which will expand pediatric and primary care. Currently, there are only two pediatricians and eight primary care doctors serving the 22 surrounding impoverished counties in eastern Kentucky. These funds are being made through USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.

Today’s announcement is part of USDA’s StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity Initiative which addresses the unique set of challenges faced by many of America’s rural communities. In eastern Kentucky, 68 percent of households live below the poverty line. Through StrikeForce, USDA is leveraging resources and collaborating with over 400 community organizations, businesses, foundations, universities and other groups to support 80,300 projects with more than $9.7 billion in USDA investments into rural America. StrikeForce currently serves 20 states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

These announcements are also part of the Obama Administration’s Promise Zone Initiative in Southeastern Kentucky. Through the Promise Zones Initiative, which was outlined in the President’s 2013 State of the Union address, the federal government will partner with and invest in designated communities to create jobs, leverage private investment, increase economic activity, expand educational opportunities, and improve public safety. The Kentucky Highlands is one of the first five Promise Zones designated by President Obama in January 2014. An additional 15 Promise Zones will be designated over the next three years. Earlier this week, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced a $1 million investment to engage 52 full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members in eastern Kentucky.

HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today the availability of $100 million from the Affordable Care Act to support an estimated 150 new health center sites across the country in 2015. New health center sites will increase access to comprehensive, affordable, high quality primary health care services in the communities that need it most. Later today, Secretary Burwell will also visit a Community Health Center in Decatur, Georgia to talk with its health care professionals about the important work they are doing to connect the community with high quality primary care.

“In communities across the country, Americans turn to their local Community Health Center for vital health care services that help them lead healthy, productive lives,” said Secretary Burwell. “That’s why it’s so important that the Affordable Care Act is supporting the expansion of health centers.”

The investment announced today will add to the more than 550 new health center sites that have opened in the last three years as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Today, nearly 1,300 health centers operate more than 9,200 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 21 million patients in every State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin. Health centers are also playing a critical role in helping the public learn about new coverage opportunities under the Affordable Care Act, by conducting outreach and enrollment activities that link individuals to affordable coverage options available through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

“Since last fall, health centers have provided enrollment assistance to more than 4.7 million people across the country,” said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. “We are pleased that the Affordable Care Act is supporting the establishment of additional health center sites to provide expanded opportunities for the newly insured to receive care.”

To learn more about this funding opportunity, visit http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/assistance/nap/.

GENEVA – The emergence of an Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa in 2014 has become a challenge to the 3 countries involved, as the Governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone work intensively with WHO and other partners to ramp up a series of measures to control the outbreak.

Since March 2014, more than 600 cases of Ebola and over 390 deaths have been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. While the number of suspected, probable and confirmed cases and deaths changes rapidly, the outbreak is causing concern among health authorities because the deadly disease is being transmitted in communities and in health-care settings, and it has appeared in cities as well as rural and border areas. The disease, which causes severe haemorrhaging and can kill up to 90% of those infected, is spread by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected animals or people.

Teams of experts deployed

WHO, the Global Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and its partners are providing guidance and support and have deployed teams of experts to West African countries and to WHO’s African Regional Office in Brazzaville, Congo.

These experts include:
epidemiologists to work with the countries in surveillance and monitoring of the outbreak;
laboratory experts to support mobile field laboratories for early confirmation of Ebola cases;
clinical management experts to help health facilities treat affected patients;
infection and prevention control experts to help the countries stop community and health-care facility transmission of the virus;
logisticians to dispatch needed equipment and materials; and
social mobilization and risk communications teams to help health officials deliver appropriate messages about how to report, handle, and treat Ebola cases.
WHO to convene regional experts for comprehensive operational response

Recognizing that a coordinated regional response is essential, WHO is convening the leading health authorities from the affected and nearby countries in Accra, Ghana on July 2–3, to agree on a comprehensive operational response to control the Ebola outbreak. A wide range of partners have been invited, and Ministries of Health of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will report on their preventive and control measures, contact identification and tracing; case management; infection and prevention control; social mobilization; and situation reports.

The countries are working to bring supportive care to the ill, inform affected communities of recommended practices, trace contacts of infected patients, control infections in health care settings, and taking other measures to control the outbreak. Despite their progress in implementing preventive and control measures, health authorities still face challenges in curbing the spread of the outbreak, and will discuss these at the Accra meeting.

Latest numbers

The latest numbers, which change as cases are discovered, investigated, or discarded, are:

Guinea has reported some 396 cases and 280 deaths
Sierra Leone has 176 cases and 46 deaths
Liberia reports 63 cases and 41 deaths.

This news is courtesy of www.who.org

A new report released today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that people who selected silver plans, the most popular plan type in the federal Marketplace, with tax credits paid an average premium of $69 per month. In the federal Marketplace, 69 percent of enrollees who selected Marketplace plans with tax credits had premiums of $100 a month or less, and 46 percent of $50 a month or less after tax credits. Today’s report also looks at competition and choice nationwide among health insurance plans in 2013-2014, and finds that most individuals shopping in the Marketplace had a wide range of health plans from which to choose. On average, consumers could choose from five health insurers and 47 Marketplace plans. An increase of one issuer in a rating area is associated with 4 percent decline in the second-lowest cost silver plan premium, on average.

“What we’re finding is that the Marketplace is working. Consumers have more choices, and they’re paying less for their premiums,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Nearly 7 in 10 consumers who signed up for Marketplace coverage are paying $100 or less for that coverage. When there is choice and competition, everybody benefits.”

According to today’s report, on average, monthly premiums for people who selected plans with tax credits fell 76 percent after tax credits, dropping the cost of the average monthly premium from $346 before tax credits to $82 after tax credits across all plan types. People who selected silver plans, the most popular plan type in the federal Marketplace, with tax credits paid an average premium of $69 per month.

The Marketplace is also providing consumers more easily comparable, quality health plan choices than ever before. In 2014, there were a total of 266 issuers in the Marketplace by state, offering over 19,000 Marketplace plans across all ratings areas, excluding catastrophic plans. Overall, 82 percent of people eligible to purchase a qualified health plan could choose from 3 or more health insurance issuers, and 96 percent could choose from 2 or more health insurers in the Marketplace. In 2014, new issuers represent almost 26 percent of all issuers in the Marketplace, and the new Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs) tended to have lower premiums than other plans. Early reports from the states suggest that additional issuers will be entering the Marketplace in 2015.

Today’s report demonstrates that the new tax credits are working as intended to make premiums affordable, and the Marketplace is bringing much-needed competition to the insurance market. In addition, the Affordable Care Act includes a number of other provisions to keep premiums affordable. The rate review grant program provides states with resources to enhance their rate review programs. HHS has previously awarded nearly $238 million to states to enhance their rate review programs, and, since the passage of the law, the proportion of insurance company requests for double-digit rate increases was cut by more than half. Consumers saved nearly $1.2 billion on their premiums in 2012 when compared to the amount originally requested by insurers. Health insurance companies also now have to spend at least 80 cents of your premium dollar on health care or improvements to care, or provide a refund. In 2012, 8.5 million consumers received half a billion dollars in refunds – with the average consumer receiving a refund of around $100 per family.

This news is courtesy of www.hhs.gov

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – A report released today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund together with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), WHO and partners reveals that major deficits in the midwifery workforce occur in 73 countries where these services are most desperately needed. The report recommends new strategies to address these deficits and save millions of lives of women and newborns.

“This report, like the Every Newborn Action Plan recently adopted by the World Health Assembly, sets a clear way forward. Both aim to encourage governments to allocate adequate resources for maternal and newborn health services within national health sector plans.”

Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health

The 73 African, Asian and Latin American countries represented in the “State of the World’s Midwifery 2014: A Universal Pathway – A Woman’s Right to Health” suffer 96% of the global burden of maternal deaths, 91% of stillbirths and 93% of newborn deaths, but have only 42% of the world’s midwives, nurses and doctors. The report urges countries to invest in midwifery education and training to contribute to closing the glaring gaps that exist. Investments in midwifery education and training at agreed international standards can yield – as a study from Bangladesh shows – a 1,600% return on investment.

“Midwives make enormous contributions to the health of mothers and newborns and the well-being of entire communities. Access to quality health care is a basic human right. Greater investment in midwifery is key to making this right a reality for women everywhere,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.

Midwives have a crucial role to play in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 (decrease child death) and 5 (increase maternal health). When educated to international standards and within a fully functional health system, they can provide about 90% of the essential care to women and newborns and can potentially reduce maternal and newborn deaths by two thirds. Despite a steady decline in maternal deaths in the 73 countries that are covered in the report – dropping yearly by 3% since 1990 – and newborn deaths – decreasing by 1.9% per year since 1990 – there is more these countries need to do to address the severe shortage of midwifery care.

“Midwives are central to midwifery care and the lives of women and newborn babies. The report precedes the Lancet Special Series on Midwifery, which together with the report will provide the evidence to guide all policy-makers in their quest to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths,” said ICM President Frances Day-Stirk.

The report, launched at the 30th ICM Triennial Congress in Prague, Czech Republic highlights the progress made since the inaugural 2011 report and solutions to the barriers outlined in four key areas: availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of midwifery services: A number of countries have effectively strengthened midwifery and improved access: Nearly half (45%) of the 73 countries have implemented measures to retain midwives in remote areas and 28% are increasing the recruitment and deployment of midwives, while 20% have implemented new codes of practice and 71% have improved information collection enabling countries to address shortages and education standards.

Despite progress, inequities such as lack of access to services and poverty have increased within and among countries. There are still not enough adequately educated midwives to support the health of women and newborns, and this contributes to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths annually. Today, only 22% of countries have potentially enough midwives to provide life-saving interventions to meet the needs of women and newborns, which leaves over three-fourths (78%) of the countries with severe shortages in proper care. As the population grows, so does the gap in critical resources and infrastructure, unless urgent action is taken.

The 2014 report includes recommendations to close these gaps and to ensure all women have access to sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn services. These include issues such as preventive and supportive care from a collaborative midwifery team, immediate access to emergency services when needed, and completing post-secondary education. From a broader perspective, women should delay marriage, have access to healthy nutrition and receive four pre-birth care visits.

“This report, like the Every Newborn Action Plan recently adopted by the World Health Assembly, sets a clear way forward. Both aim to encourage governments to allocate adequate resources for maternal and newborn health services within national health sector plans. This should include funds for the education and retention of midwives. We will continue to support countries to develop and strengthen their midwifery services as a critical intervention to save the lives of women and newborns,” said Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health.

This is courtesy of www.who.org

PITTSBURGH, PA — GE Healthcare announced today a strategic partnership with Real Time Medical, an award-winning developer of workflow management software solutions. The agreement will allow GE Healthcare to offer a streamlined workflow that seamlessly connects pathologists and other clinicians, facilitating collaboration to help enhance accuracy and speed of diagnosis.
Empowering pathologists with information technology to remove manual processes and delays, GE Healthcare now offers OmnyxTM IDP, a scanner and software solution to allow pathologists to digitally view and share slide images with colleagues across locations. The addition of Real Time Medical’s DiaShareTM workflow management platform will further speed up the process, connecting pathologists in real time by creating a workflow, which automatically alerts colleagues to new cases to review, tracks progress and allows pathologists to report results.

By offering OmnyxTM IDP and DiaShareTM as a combined solution, GE Healthcare is now advancing its digital pathology capabilities by connecting networks and delivering smooth sub-specialty workflows in anatomic pathology. Pathologists can now share image data and collaborate with peers in near real time to improve decision making and facilitate learning.

Omnyx CEO Mamar Gelaye said: “There has been huge investment in information technology in most areas of the hospital to improve clinical outcomes and productivity, but little has been done to empower the pathologist. For a long time, pathologists have been disconnected — from each other and from other clinicians and patient data.

“This solution empowers decision making for pathologists, enabling them to collaborate more easily and quickly with their colleagues. Today, Omnyx helps pathologists be better connected—they still have to alert colleagues manually to cases to review in the system. Now, by combining our Omnyx solution with Real Time Medical’s DiaShareTM, platform we are able to go one step further. Our combined solutions address important needs to further streamline the pathology workflow which will improve access to subspecialty expertise within a single, intuitive workflow.”

Ian Maynard, CEO and Co-Founder of Real Time Medical, said: “Our DiaShareTM workflow management platform is a multi-disciplinary digital imaging solution that was designed to drive operational efficiencies, enhance productivity, and improve quality of care. We are excited by the opportunity to help transform ways of working for pathologists and to be working with GE Healthcare and Omnyx as strategic partners.”

OmnyxTM IDP solutions are offered for primary diagnostic use in Europe and Canada, and for limited clinical use as well as research use in the United States.
Omnyx is a trademark of Omnyx, LLC.

DiaShareTM is a trademark of Real Time Medical.

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter – great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients.
About Omnyx
Omnyx, LLC is a joint venture of GE Healthcare and UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) with locations in Pittsburgh, PA and Piscataway, NJ. The company has developed the OmnyxTM IDP solution allowing pathology departments worldwide to move to an all-digital workflow. Their products include image acquisition devices, workflow software, and transformation consulting. Close collaboration with pathologists at UPMC and other institutions along with their relationship with GE Healthcare allows Omnyx to focus its innovation on the needs of anatomic pathologists worldwide. OmnyxTM products are for in vitro diagnostic use for specific clinical applications, and are intended for research use only on other applications. For more information, go to: omnyx.com.

About Real Time Medical
Real Time Medical is a diagnostic imaging workflow innovation company. It develops vendor-neutral, context-aware workflow management software solutions. These solutions organize the reporting services in complex diagnostic imaging organizations more efficiently and productively. Real Time Medical’s platform, DiaShareTM, improves the quality and accuracy of service delivery to patients. Real Time Medical also operates the only nationwide, round-the-clock radiology service in Canada, using its own context-aware workflow management software. For more information, visit http://www.realtimemedical.com.

About UPMC
A world-renowned health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of accountable, cost-effective, patient-centered care. It provides more than $887 million a year in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 62,000 employees, 21 hospitals, 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, a nearly 2.3-million-member health insurance division, and international and commercial operations. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 10 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals — and No. 1 in Pennsylvania. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

Philadelphia, PA — May 31, 2014 — In an effort to help healthcare providers improve operational efficiency in the midst of a changing regulatory environment, industry consolidation and evolving patient populations, GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), today showcased a suite of new and enhanced offerings at the AAMI Annual Conference & Expo in Philadelphia.

The offerings are designed to address some of healthcare providers’ most pressing operational challenges: infrastructure connectivity, getting the right service parts as quickly as possible, avoiding ultrasound downtime related to damaged probes, and synthesizing data to help them optimize their assets.

“With operating margin pressure, clearly it’s not business as usual for health systems and providers,” said Richard Neff, Vice President & General Manager of GE Healthcare Services, US & Canada. “We believe better business performance leads to better healthcare delivery, and we can help. Our new and enhanced offerings are designed to improve operations, and ultimately enable better patient care.”

“These offerings align with GE’s Industrial Internet strategy to use the power of software, data and analytics to address today’s health care challenges, and increase speed and efficiency to benefit both hospitals and patients,” Neff added.

Clinical Engineering Technology Management
GE Healthcare’s new offering, Clinical Engineering Technology Management (CETM), is an end-to-end infrastructure connectivity service that assists IT and Clinical Engineering with design, deployment, maintenance and management of mission critical networks, wireless networks, distributed antenna systems and devices that connect and provide critical patient data to healthcare providers and hospital IT systems. The new service is in direct response to hospitals’ demand for stronger, more evolved support and risk management given the burgeoning use of mobile and other networked devices, as well as complex regulatory requirements.

GE Healthcare’s CETM Service helps hospitals bridge the gap between their IT and Clinical Engineering departments by enabling collaboration between resources and providing ongoing, proactive counsel on risk management of wired and wireless networks that have integrated medical devices or when changes occur either to the network or integrated medical devices. This support continues throughout each phase of the lifecycle of a medical IT network.

Service Shop
Service Shop is GE Healthcare’s new online resource that provides clinical engineering teams with access to GE parts and information for equipment, such as ultrasound, anesthesia, maternal infant care, cardiology and patient monitoring devices. It allows healthcare teams to search, verify and order parts and accessories efficiently via any web-connected device. The easy-to-use interface allows review of previous orders and sharing of carts, saving time and effort and helping to avoid ordering errors. Learn more at ServiceShop.gehealthcare.com.

Ultrasound Probe Management
GE Healthcare now offers services that address one of the biggest pain points for ultrasound users and clinical engineering departments — the ultrasound probe. Its new, customizable ultrasound probe management programs combine the probe experience of UnisynTM, a recently acquired division of GE Healthcare, with the service reliability of GE Healthcare. Through this offering, ultrasound users can effectively and cost efficiently repair, replace and manage their GE and non-GE probes. Next day loaner1 and broad repair capability can help maximize operational efficiency by potentially reducing downtime, as well as increase ultrasound asset utilization and return on investment by extending the useful life of the probe.

iCenter
GE Healthcare has revamped its asset management platform, iCenter, to enable customers to better optimize their biomedical and diagnostic assets through its ability to find information faster and analyze data and create reports more easily.

These improvements mean that customers get instant access to critical information — such as asset status, location, maintenance history, use and planning — with fewer clicks. A built-in analytics engine provides for more visual and intuitive data depiction along with enhanced user security, ultimately enabling improved decision making for care-providing teams and helping to support more efficient hospital operations. An integrated guided tour helps customers quickly acclimate to the new platform with minimal training. The enhanced iCenter is the company’s platform for future online service applications and is designed for scalability to accommodate customer’s future needs.

For more information about GE Healthcare Services or any of the new advancements being developed to support healthcare providers, visit Booth #403. www.ge.com

The Siemens Museum for Medical Technology is holding its grand opening today in Erlangen. Occupying 400 square meters in all, the Siemens MedMuseum offers an overview of the development of medical technology, a field in which Siemens has played a key role for more than 160 years – from X-ray technology to laboratory diagnostics. Important innovations and their inventors are taken as examples, bringing home the history of medical technology to visitors in multimedia format from the field’s inception, in the mid-19th century, to the present day. The historic space once occupied by a machine shop dating to 1893 showcases selected pieces such as the first X-ray, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems from Siemens while also providing background information and
explaining how these technologies work. The Siemens MedMuseum also traces the development of the various companies that were predecessors of Siemens Healthcare. For Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of the Interior and Building, this specific exhibition concept underscores the exceptional position of Siemens in the field of medical technology: “We can be proud that high-tech medical equipment
‘made in Erlangen’ has such an excellent reputation all over the world. Our new Siemens MedMuseum lets you relive this Erlangen-made success story that now spans already more than a hundred years.”

The history of medical progress is a story of technological aids and equipment.
Throughout history, medical devices have been used to diagnose and treat disease, relieve pain, and find out more about the structure of the human body and how it works. Numerous advances in medical technology are closely associated with Siemens. “We are proud that our innovations have been helping to shape progress in medical technology for many decades,” says Prof. Dr. Hermann Requardt, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Siemens Healthcare.

The Siemens MedMuseum traces the development of the various technologies and tells the stories of pioneering figures. “They are the ones who, with their inventive spirit and drive, have made our business what it is today, over more than 160 years,” says Michael Sen, CFO Siemens Healthcare. It all started with Werner Siemens, who in 1844 put one of his inventions to use for medical purposes for the
first time, using electricity to treat his brother Friedrich for tooth pain. Just three years later, Siemens teamed up with Johann Georg Halske to found Siemens & Halske, a Berlin-based company that produced electromedical equipment in addition to telegraphs. In Erlangen, Erwin Moritz Reiniger joined with Max Gebbert and Karl Schall to form the medical technology company Reiniger, Gebbert & Schall (RGS), which was to supply Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen himself – the discoverer of X-rays – with X-ray tubes no long afterward. The RGS factory’s historic machine shop, from 1893, is now home to the Siemens MedMuseum – just a few hundred meters from the present-day headquarters of medical technology at Siemens.

From “shadow images” to sectional imaging
The Siemens MedMuseum devotes a wealth of space to the early days of medical technology, featuring electromedicine, in the form of electrostimulation devices such as Reiniger’s plunge battery – the oldest piece on exhibit, dating to the period shortly after RGS was founded, in 1886 – and, most especially, X-ray imaging, which has an exhibition area of its own, called “shadow images”. Use of X-rays at the turn of the 20th century laid the groundwork for medical imaging. An X-ray unit from 1902 designed by Friedrich Dessauer, whose Elektrotechnisches Laboratorium Aschaffenburg (ELA) was later acquired by RGS, bears witness to these early years. Not long afterward, the other effects of X-ray exposure were discovered as well, and radiation therapy became an established part of medicine, with proven effects. As fascinating as this pioneering era in medical technology is, the Siemens MedMuseum also recalls the sacrifices made by the first users of X-ray technology because they did not know the risks of their work.

The “slices and sections” area deals with a relatively young era in medical imaging:
In ultrathin slices, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visualize the inside of the body. Siemens has been a driving force behind the development of both technologies right from the start. The first German MRI image – an image of a bell pepper, taken in 1980 – attests to this. The first Siemens systems of both types, the Magnetom MRI scanner (1983) and the Siretom computed
tomography scanner (1975), which was developed for cranial diagnosis, are on display at the Siemens MedMuseum. Next door, in an area devoted to ultrasound imaging, a breakthrough in ultrasound technology is presented: the Vidoson, launched in 1965, which made it possible to present ultrasound images in real time for the first time ever, thereby observing movements in the body. Nowadays, ultrasound is an integral part of modern obstetrical care.

From the first dental drill to laboratory diagnostics
Alongside the focus on imaging, the Siemens MedMuseum also takes up the other areas of medical technology in which Siemens has played a major role, such as audiology. Louis Weber, who developed the first Siemens electric hearing aid, the Phonophor, from 1911 onwards, is given his own station. Another audio presentation recalls William Niendorf, who built Germany’s first electric dental drill at RGS in 1890. Yet another features Swedish inventor Rune Elmqvist, who produced the first fully implantable cardiac pacemaker while working at Elema-Schönander (later Siemens-Elema) in the 1950s. And while laboratory diagnostics has only been a major part of medical technology at Siemens for eight years, the Siemens MedMuseum also offers a reminder that the company positioned itself in the field of laboratory automation for a short time back in the 1970s: The Silab system made it possible to analyze significantly more samples and automatically assocciate results with individual patients, at both hospitals and private practices.

Many stations feature tablet computers that offer museum visitors additional information and images. A digital map of the world illustrates how Siemens Healthcare has developed globally. The virtual “window on the archive” lets visitors learn more about the work done by the Siemens Medical Archive, right next door. And they can explore how form and design shape the appearance of the technical devices. Throughout it all, there is always a link with the historic setting: At several stations, visitors to the Siemens MedMuseum can take a closer look at the former machine shop from the 1890s.

In the future, regular special exhibitions will be held to provide further information on the various thematic areas covered at the museum. The building’s modern annex offers an additional 100 square meters of space for these exhibitions.

This courtesy of www.siemens.com

A new national survey released today by Working Mother Media and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) on the impact of menopausal symptoms on women in the workplace finds that managing menopausal symptoms in their work life is extremely or somewhat difficult for nearly half (48 percent) of working women ages 45-65 who have experienced these symptoms in the past year. And yet, despite the commonly held belief that menopause can be an embarrassing subject, just over half of women surveyed (54 percent) strongly or somewhat agree that their colleagues have been supportive as they deal with these symptoms on the job.

Some menopausal symptoms can be more problematic than others in the workplace. Hot flashes (31 percent), changes in memory and concentration (19 percent), and fatigue due to sleep disturbances (18 percent) rank most troublesome. The good news is that a few simple adjustments to everyday routines and understanding co-workers may help.

“Menopausal symptoms impacted the women in our survey — for example, approximately one in 10 women strongly or somewhat agrees that she had passed up a more demanding position due to her menopausal symptoms. And yet, our research also suggests a cultural shift in women’s comfort with being open at work about menopause,” said Jennifer Owens, editorial director of Working Mother Media and director of the Working Mother Research Institute. “The increasingly positive reception women report from their bosses and co-workers is encouraging.”

The survey also shows that:

A majority (59 percent) believe that it’s acceptable to be open with co-workers about health issues and general wellness.

While most women (89 percent) didn’t miss any work because of their menopausal symptoms – those who did (11 percent) missed approximately three days over the past 12 months.

Approximately one in 10 (12 percent) women strongly or somewhat agrees that she had passed up a more demanding job or promotion because of her menopausal symptoms.

To better cope with the effects of menopause in the workplace, many women often take matters into their own hands. Three out of four respondents (75 percent) reported making changes to the way they dressed at work, including wearing lightweight clothing (46 percent) and jackets or cardigans (41 percent) that could be easily removed. One in five women (22 percent) also indicated she had made modifications to her work schedule in the last 12 months.

“For some women, simple lifestyle changes are helpful in managing menopause-related symptoms. For others, these practical adjustments just aren’t enough,” said Ivy Alexander, PhD, APRN, ANP-BC, FAAN, clinical professor and director of advanced practice programs at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. “I encourage women who are finding the management of their menopause-related symptoms difficult to have a proactive, open, and honest conversation with a healthcare provider to discuss and weigh available options.”

Women of menopausal age play a critical role in the United States (U.S.) workforce. In 2012, 26.8 million working women ages 45-64 made up almost 20 percent of the total civilian labor force, and these numbers continue to rise. Between 2012 and 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of working women of this age to grow by 3.8 million.

A summary of the survey results can be found here on workingmother.com.

For more information about menopause and its symptoms, as well as tips for managing menopausal symptoms at work, please visitpersonalmenopauseanswers.com.

About Menopause
Menopause is a normal, natural event. It marks the permanent end of fertility and is usually confirmed when a woman has not menstruated for 12 consecutive months and is not due to other medical causes. Menopause is associated with reduced functioning of the ovaries due to aging, resulting in lower levels of estrogens and other hormones. Changes in these hormones may cause symptoms of menopause, which may include hot flashes and bone loss.

About The Survey
Working Mother and Pfizer partnered to conduct the “Working Through Menopause” national survey of 1,500 full-time or part-time working women who had experienced menopausal symptoms within the past 12 months. The survey was fielded by Research Now from August – September 2013.

About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (bonniercorp.com), publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website,workingmother.com, and the Working Mother Research Institute. The National Association for Female Executives (nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (diversitybestpractices.com) are also units within WMM. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change.Working Mother magazine reaches more than 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; Workingmother.com gives working mothers @home and @work advice, solutions, and ideas. The magazine’s signature research initiative, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is published annually in the October/November issue of the magazine. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest.

About Pfizer Inc.
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world’s best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. To learn more, please visit us at www.pfizer.com.

PHOENIX– New public opinion survey results announced today in conjunction with the start of the Assisted Living Federation of America’s (ALFA) 2014 Conference & Exposition reveal that those selecting a senior living community for themselves or a loved one place a high priority on cleanliness, healthy and convenient food options, and hotel-like amenities.

With an estimated 70 percent of people who reach age 65 needing some form of long-term service and support1, Ecolab Inc. recently commissioned a survey of 400 Americans involved in selecting senior living communities to determine how these decisions are made, the factors that influence these decisions, and the expectations for services and amenities offered by senior living communities.

“Choosing a community for a loved one is highly emotional. In fact, more than half of the respondents reported that this was one of the most emotional decisions they’ve ever made,” said Leah Larson, director of Long Term Care Marketing for Ecolab’s Institutional business. “And, with 10,000 people turning 65 years old today, and every day until the year 2029, exponentially more people will make these important decisions each day.”

First Impressions Count: 93 Percent Say Cleanliness Linked to Quality of Care
When asked whether they agreed that “If a community isn’t clean, it suggests to me that the staff might not take good care of the residents,” 93 percent agreed. Moreover, 96 percent ranked “cleanliness” as important or extremely important when choosing a senior living community; women are twice as likely as men to say cleanliness is their top priority.

“This research confirmed what we intuitively know to be true. First impressions count, especially when it comes to cleanliness,” said Larson. “Ecolab’s field sales-and-service teams and research and development experts work inside customer locations, alongside housekeeping, laundry and foodservice staffs, to learn about and develop solutions for the unique cleaning and sanitizing challenges in senior living communities.”

Larson added that cleaning a resident’s room is similar in process to cleaning a hotel room, but more challenging in that special consideration must be given to the presence of residents and their personal belongings. In addition, a focus on infection prevention is of higher importance due to potentially compromised immune systems.

Concerning laundry, Larson added that resident skin sensitivity may be an issue, so it’s important to have the right laundry solution to help reduce the occurrences of bed sores. Finally, she said overall cleanliness has a direct correlation to both the perception of care and the actual delivery of a positive resident experience.

“This depth of knowledge allows us to personally train staffs across several areas of the facility about: 1) housekeeping protocols and products that efficiently and effectively clean and disinfect rooms; 2) laundry wash processes and chemistry that help keep linens clean, while helping to reduce skin irritations for residents and the cost of linen replacement for management; and 3) food safety and kitchen cleaning and sanitizing procedures and products to help reduce the risk of foodborne illness, while achieving commercial kitchen sanitation levels and spotless tableware for residents and guests.”

High Expectations for Healthy, Convenient Foods: 71 Percent Want Room Service
The survey also showed that senior living communities today are expected to offer fresh, healthy foods along with convenience. In fact, 85 percent of respondents ranked quality and variety of food as important. They also had high expectations for specific food and dining options in senior living communities, reminiscent of what might be found in a hotel. For instance, 71 percent want room service, 66 percent expect a coffee shop, 78 percent expect a bakery or fresh baked goods and desserts, and 82 percent expect a fresh salad bar. About 20 percent expect access to an on-site bar or pub.

Hillcrest Health Services, near Omaha, Neb., an organization serving aging adults that utilizes Ecolab products and solutions in their foodservice, housekeeping and laundry operations, is an example of how these hotel-like foodservice expectations are being brought to life.

“Our ‘Culinary Vision’, which includes in-room dining services, multiple dining room options and an eat-in bistro with made-to-order specialties, centers around the concept of providing patients and residents choices about when, where and what they can eat while they are staying with us,” said Tim Irwin, Hillcrest’s vice president of Operations. “In the near future, we’ll again offer a bistro and resort-style dining – as well as an on-site pub – at our new Grand Lodge.”

Bring on the “Extras”
When asked to rank a list of features in order of priority when considering an independent or assisted living community, answers varied depending upon whether the respondents were making the decision for themselves or a loved one.

For those making decisions as the resident, comfort and ambiance of their living space ranked number one, followed by services and amenities and safe layout. If making the decision for someone else, a caring staff ranked at the top of the list.

Regardless of the role of the respondent, when asked about the importance of several services and amenities, many said frequency of cleaning/laundry services (82 percent) is a priority, as is in-house exercise and recreational activities (72 percent) and access to in-room WiFi (43 percent).
“This research indicates that one size does not fit all when it comes to selecting a senior living community, and different decision makers have different priorities,” said Larson.

“What does all this mean? First, for our company, we need to continue innovating products and educating our customers around maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness – as it is one of the most important factors in selecting a senior living community. Second, our customers should continue to invest in creating vibrant senior living communities that deliver on the higher expectations of this generation. And finally, the long-term care industry needs to find ways to differentiate independent and assisted living from nursing care, and increase awareness about the opportunity to maintain a vibrant lifestyle as the need for senior living communities skyrockets in the near future.”

To learn more about Ecolab’s custom solutions in the long term care industry, as well as other key market segments such as foodservice, lodging and facility care, visit www.ecolab.com.

About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources. With 2013 sales of $13 billion and 45,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.

About Hillcrest Health Services
Hillcrest Health Services offers the region’s largest continuum of health services for aging adults, including independent and assisted living, in-patient and outpatient rehabilitation, long-term care, memory support, adult day services, certified skilled home health and private duty home care, palliative care, telehealth services, and hospice care. Hillcrest currently serves nearly 1,000 aging adults daily across eight counties in Nebraska and Iowa. For more information, visit www.hillcresthealth.com or call (402) 682-4800.

NEWARK, N.J., – Full implementation of the Affordable Care Act by 2015 is prompting employers to rethink the way they offer benefits, with many increasingly eyeing a transition to defined contribution (DC) benefit models. According to Group Benefits and the Defined Contribution Model, the second in a series of five research briefs based on the Prudential Insurance Company of America’s (Prudential’s) Eighth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond, nearly half (47%) of employers report they are moving or have moved to a DC model.

Employers say the top two reasons for contemplating a switch to DC benefit models are to lower health care costs and to offer their employees more choice in the allocation of their benefit dollars (59% and 40%, respectively). Employees report they would allot 75% of their benefit dollars to health, dental, and vision coverage, leaving 25% for other coverages such as voluntary life, disability, accident, and critical illness insurance. Even with this allocation by employees, 42% of brokers feel the shift to DC plans will lead to an uptick in sales for voluntary products.

“While employers struggle to fund increasing health care costs and more look to shift to DC plans, employees will realize a higher level of choice when it comes to benefits selection and aligning their benefit dollars with personal priorities,” said Jim Gemus, senior vice president, Products, Prudential Group Insurance. “Carriers and brokers have an opportunity to ramp up employee awareness and educational efforts in order to help ensure employees fully appreciate the value of the voluntary benefits available to them.”

According to the report, brokers feel the increased number of choices employees are given under DC plans will be the biggest boost to increasing voluntary sales in the next five years. Brokers report the biggest detriment to voluntary sales in the next five years will be employees not fully recognizing their financial needs.

“Clearly, strong financial needs assessment tools, educational materials, and communications are critical in helping employees make the best decisions for their financial wellness. Our keen focus remains on partnering with and supporting our brokers and employers so that employees can make these decisions,” Gemus said.

Group Benefits and the Defined Contribution Model is the second in a series of five research briefs that highlight the major findings from Prudential’s Eighth Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond. The research was conducted via the Internet during August and September of 2013, and consisted of three distinct surveys—one for plan sponsors, another for benefits brokers and consultants, and a third for plan participants.

Prudential Group Insurance manufactures and distributes a full range of group life, long-term and short-term disability and corporate and trust-owned life insurance in the U.S. to institutional clients primarily for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans. The business also sells critical illness insurance, accidental death and dismemberment and other ancillary coverages and provides plan administrative services in connection with its insurance coverages.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.

DEERFIELD, Ill., – Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Water Street Healthcare Partners (Water Street), a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry, in which Water Street will acquire a majority interest in Take Care Employer Solutions, LLC. Take Care Employer Solutions is a Walgreens subsidiary that manages more than 360 worksite health centers nationwide.

Water Street also has signed an agreement to simultaneously invest in CHS™ Health Services (CHS), a premier provider of more than 130 worksite health centers. Water Street will merge Take Care Employer Solutions and CHS to form a new company dedicated to providing worksite health centers that improve the cost and quality of employee health care. The new company will have more than 85 years of combined experience in employer health solutions and will serve more than 200 leading corporations through nearly 500 worksite health and wellness centers located across the country.

“Walgreens, CHS and Water Street share a goal of maximizing employers’ return on their health care investment,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kang, Walgreens senior vice president of health and wellness services and solutions. “This strategic decision to bring together our organizations’ expertise, capabilities and resources to create a leading worksite health and wellness company provides us an opportunity to play an even greater role in improving the cost and quality of workforce health care. Through our continued involvement in the business and as a preferred strategic partner with Water Street, Walgreens expects to accelerate tighter connections with employers – an important stakeholder in the health care delivery system.”

“CHS and Take Care Employer Solutions are both deeply committed to finding new ways to drive positive health care outcomes for our clients and their employees. This merger will provide us with a significant opportunity to transform onsite health care. Together, we will have the experience and resources to create innovative strategies that will improve patient engagement and positively impact health outcomes,” said Stuart Clark, CEO, CHS.

Water Street will own a majority interest in the new company, and Walgreens will own a significant minority interest and have representatives on the new company’s board of directors. The new company will be led by Stuart Clark, CEO. Trent Riley, divisional vice president, Take Care Employer Solutions Group, will serve as COO. The name of the new company will be determined during the integration process.

“We are pleased that Walgreens and CHS have selected Water Street to collaboratively and strategically grow their businesses. We will leverage our team’s experience and network of relationships in health care services to expand the new company’s capabilities and create greater long-term value for the business and clients,” said Steve Cosler, an operating partner with Water Street who has more than 20 years of experience in outsourced health care.

Walgreens will continue to manage its existing worksite pharmacies in collaboration with the new company.

Healthcare Clinic at select Walgreens, with more than 400 in-store clinic locations that formerly operated under the Take Care Clinic name, is not part of this transaction. Walgreens will continue to manage these clinics.

Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. (CHSi), an entity related to CHS that specializes in government contracting health services and logistics, is not part of this transaction. It will remain an independent organization with no changes to its ownership structure or leadership team.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Walgreens anticipates the transaction will not have a material impact on earnings per share in fiscal year 2014.

The transaction is subject to satisfaction of regulatory requirements and other conditions, and is expected to close by mid-calendar year 2014. Until the close of the transaction, Take Care Employer Solutions and CHS will operate business as usual and as separate companies.

About Walgreens

As the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2013 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to be the first choice in health and daily living for everyone in America, and beyond. Each day, Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,210 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens also manages Healthcare Clinic at select Walgreens, with more than 400 locations throughout the country.

About Take Care Employer Solutions

Since its formation through the combination of CHD Meridian, Whole Health Management and Walgreens workplace pharmacy operations in 2008, Take Care Employer Solutions has built its business to become the nation’s premier provider of employer-based health care services. Take Care Employer Solutions serves 180 clients across multiple industries, and has more than 360 health centers, pharmacies and fitness centers located across 45 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. Take Care Employer Solutions has received AAAHC Medical Home accreditation, recognizing that all of its primary care worksite health centers meet AAAHC requirements to be considered a patient-centered medical home – embodying best practices and operating in compliance with nationally-recognized standards of care.

About CHS

Founded in 1975, CHS is one of the largest providers of worksite health centers for employers in the United States. The company operates more than 130 employer-based worksite health centers that focus on patient engagement and behavioral change to improve health and mitigate costs. CHS customizes its programs to align with each employer’s benefits strategy and goals. The company is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

About Water Street

Water Street is a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has worked with some of the world’s leading health care companies on its investments including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Gentiva. Water Street’s team is composed of industry executives and investment professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit waterstreet.com.

This news is courtesy of www.walgreens.com