Triumph HealthCare to Acquire South Bend Indiana Long Term Acute Care Hospital

(Houston, Texas/October 17 2008) Triumph HealthCare, the nation’s third largest provider of long term acute care (LTAC), today announced they will acquire Our Lady of Peace Hospital from South Bend, Indiana based Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center. Our Lady of Peace is a 32 bed LTAC located on the fourth floor of Saint Joseph’s South Bend Campus. The deal, expected to close October 31, will increase Triumph’s hospital count to twenty-one.

“We are very excited about Triumph’s expansion into Indiana and look forward to becoming actively involved in the healthcare community of South Bend,” stated Charles Allen, CEO for Triumph HealthCare. Allen added, “While evaluating possible acquisitions, Our Lady of Peace’s similarly aligned commitment to quality in healthcare made this hospital stand out. We anticipate a very smooth transition with no reduction of workforce at the hospital.”

Our Lady of Peace, which has provided LTAC hospital services in South Bend for over eight years, will remain in their current location for the present. Future plans call for a move to Saint Joseph’s Mishawaka location on 4th Street. There is a current federal moratorium on adding new LTAC beds which is set to expire in 2011. This move will position Triumph for not only expanded services but additional beds should the moratorium be lifted.

Allen explained, “An LTAC hospital has an average length of stay of more than 25 days compared with the five- to seven-day length of stay in a general hospital. Triumph’s hospitals specialize in providing services to medically-complex patients for whom the general acute care hospital is no longer the most appropriate or cost-effective setting.” Triumph will work closely with St. Joseph’s and other area hospitals to ensure that patients requiring extended hospitalizations receive the highest quality of care.

Triumph will begin immediate interviews and job fairs to provide Our Lady of Peace employees with available employment options. Triumph HealthCare currently operates twenty LTACs in six states.