Tenet South Florida and The Jack Nicklaus Family to Create The Nicklaus Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center

Business Wire, Feb 19, 2003

Business Editors

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2003

Annual Honda Classic Golf Tournament to Benefit

The Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation

Tenet South Florida and the family of legendary professional golfer Jack Nicklaus announced today that they have joined to create an 81-bed children's hospital on the campus of Tenet South Florida's St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The Nicklaus Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center will consolidate pediatric services at St. Mary's into an existing hospital wing, which will be extensively renovated. The $6 million, four-story, 45,000-square-foot project is scheduled to break ground in May, with completion targeted for late 2004.

Additionally, Tenet South Florida and the Nicklaus Family have established a new nonprofit foundation - the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation - to help support health care services for children in the area. The foundation will become one of the significant beneficiaries of the annual Honda Classic Golf Tournament in Palm Beach County.

"It's an honor to partner with Barbara and Jack Nicklaus on a project that is so important to the children of South Florida," said Don S. Steigman, senior vice president of Tenet South Florida. "The Nicklauses have always been passionate about helping children and are committed to working with St. Mary's Medical Center to ensure that the new hospital provides the highest quality of care for children in South Florida."

The Nicklaus Family moved to Palm Beach County in the mid-1960s and now includes five children and 15 grandchildren, all living within 10 minutes of Jack and his wife, Barbara.

"As long-time residents of the Palm Beach community, with three generations now living here, our family is pleased to have our name associated with St. Mary's Medical Center," Barbara Nicklaus said. "Several of our grandchildren were born at St. Mary's, and we look forward to working together with the hospital to provide children in our area with much-needed medical services."

The Nicklaus Family is active in several charities to benefit children, including the Columbus Children's Hospital, Stop Children's Cancer, The First Tee, and the Barbara and Jack Nicklaus Junior Golf Endowment Fund. The Nicklaus global family business, which is headquartered in North Palm Beach, focuses on golf course design, development, marketing and licensing.

The Nicklaus Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center will offer a wide array of children's services. The facility, funding for which will come from Tenet South Florida, will include two general pediatric units, a 13-bed pediatric intensive care unit, a pediatric progressive care unit, and a separate entrance and separate admissions department exclusively for children's services. Future plans include the relocation and expansion of the current pediatric emergency department at St. Mary's Medical Center to The Nicklaus Children's Hospital. St. Mary's Medical Center, which was acquired by Tenet in July 2001, is a 460-bed acute care hospital offering a full range of services, including obstetrics, orthopedic and emergency services.

The Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation will be established as a non-profit foundation to support the efforts of the Children's Hospital. The primary mission of the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation will be to provide assistance to pediatric patients and their families in a five-county area who are either uninsured or otherwise unable to pay the cost of hospital care. Two-thirds of the foundation board's members will be community members appointed by the Nicklaus Family, with the remaining members appointed by Tenet South Florida.

The foundation will be supported by the Honda Classic Golf Tournament, which donates approximately $500,000 to children's charities annually, according to Clifford Danley, executive director of the Honda Classic. The Honda Classic, a South Florida staple in the PGA Tour's annual Florida swing, has moved to Palm Beach County for 2003 and will be played March 13-16 at Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens - just minutes away from the Nicklauses' home and business.

Tenet's Florida Region, which is part of Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC), was ranked among the nation's Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks in 2001 by SMG Marketing Group. Tenet's Florida Region was also ranked by HealthGrades, a national healthcare quality solutions company, as the top-rated hospital system for cardiac care in Florida and earned a five-star rating, ranking Tenet in the top five percent of hospitals nationwide for cardiac care. In addition to cardiac care, Tenet hospitals have received five-star rankings for neurosciences, pulmonary/respiratory care, vascular surgery, orthopedic surgery and obstetrics. Delray Medical Center, Florida Medical Center, North Ridge Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and Palmetto General Hospital have earned one or more of these five-star rankings. The Tenet Florida hospitals are operated by subsidiaries of Tenet Healthcare Corporation.