American Shared Hospital Services Announces New England Medical Center Gamma Knife Contract

Business Wire, Oct 14, 1998

SAN FRANCISCO--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 14, 1998--American Shared Hospital Services (AMEX,PCX:AMS for common stock) Wednesday said that New England Medical Center has entered into a Gamma Knife services contract with GK Financing, LLC, a subsidiary of American Shared.

Ernest A. Bates, M.D., Chairman and CEO of American Shared, said, "We are pleased to announce our affiliation with New England Medical Center, the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. The installation of the Gamma Knife at New England Medical Center will allow the people of Massachusetts to obtain this state of the art service locally.

"This Gamma Knife center located in Boston will be the first in the state of Massachusetts. Pending regulatory approvals, this center is expected to be operational in early 1999. This will be our third Gamma Knife contract on the East Coast and eighth overall. Our other east coast contracts are with Yale-New Haven Heath Ambulatory Services Corporation which opened in July, 1998 and JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, scheduled for operation in Spring, 1999."

William Shucart, M.D., Tufts and New England Medical Center Chair of Neurosurgery, said, "The Gamma Knife is a significant step forward in technology for the New England Medical Center which will greatly benefit the people it serves. We look forward to the opening of the Gamma Knife center."

The Gamma Knife is a stereotactic radiosurgical device manufactured by Elekta AB of Sweden (Stockholm Stock Exchange: ETKA). The Gamma Knife treats certain vascular malformations and brain tumors without invasive surgery. It uses three dimensional computer modeling to target a high dose of radiation at abnormal tissue. More than 90,000 patients worldwide already have been treated with Gamma Knife units.

American Shared Hospital Services is a diversified medical services company, with interests in mobile and shared diagnostic imaging, insurance services, and (through its 81% equity interest in GK Financing, LLC) radiosurgery services. Headquarters are in San Francisco.