Safeway Teams Up with St. Joseph's Medical Center to Expand Mobile Mammography Unit in Northern and Central California

Business Wire, Oct 3, 2007

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway Inc., (NYSE:SWY) today announced a partnership with St. Joseph's Medical Center that will double the number of breast cancer screenings it performs annually through a state-of-the-art Mobile Mammography Unit (MMU) equipped with digital screening technology. The expansion of the services is the result of a $500,000 operating grant from The Safeway Foundation that will allow the unit to operate four days a week in 22 California counties, serving mainly low-income women who may not have access to such services.

Safeway announced the partnership with employees, breast cancer survivors and officials from St. Joseph's Medical Center during a Breast Cancer Awareness employee Town Hall meeting at corporate headquarters in Pleasanton. The 48-foot mobile clinic will screen 35 women per day and operate in 22 counties, with Contra Costa County being one of five counties recently added. The MMU staff provides mammograms to women who are insured and uninsured, regardless of their ability to pay. The MMU's sites of operation include rural hospitals, community clinics, public health fairs, Native American reservations, senior centers and migrant worker camps.

"Each year Safeway employees and customers join together in October to raise funds for research and prevention programs," said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President and Safeway Foundation Chair. "We are proud to partner with St. Joseph's in expanding this critical resource to women and continue to help programs that support breast cancer prevention and research to find a cure."

The St. Joseph's Medical Center high-tech mobile mammography clinic is complete with a waiting room, dressing room and latest mammography equipment. Since its launch in August 2006, the MMU has seen more than 1,000 patients. Due to limited funds, the MMU has operated only two days per week, screening 15 mostly low-income women per day in 17 Northern California counties. With The Safeway Foundation grant, the unit will now double its screenings and expand to additional counties.

"We are very pleased that The Safeway Foundation has chosen to support our efforts to help make mammography services convenient and accessible to all California women," said Linda Philipp, Vice President of The St. Joseph's Foundation. "Our mission in the battle against breast cancer is to provide early detection, information and support. By servicing more women in more counties, we are sure to do exactly that."

The Breast Cancer Awareness Town Hall also included presentations by breast cancer survivors and by Dr. Laura Esserman, a nationally recognized breast surgeon and Director of the University of San Francisco's Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, who told nearly 400 employees about leading-edge research in the quest for new treatments and a cure. Safeway is a longtime sponsor of UCSF's Cancer Resource Center and of research conducted by UCSF's Breast Care Center.

Dr. Esserman's guiding principle for research and clinical care is that a patient's knowledge, participation and comfort are keys to ensuring that the patient receives the best possible care. She is devoted to developing a system that will enable providers to tailor treatments for the individual patient, using information about the patient's biology and personal preferences.

Support for cancer research and outreach programs is made possible by the company's generous customers and employees who help raise funds each October during the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. Since 2001, Safeway has raised more than $25 million for this important cause. This week, the company launched a month-long public service campaign to raise millions more for research and education and reach millions of women about the importance of annual screenings and prevention. The company has teamed up with Grammy-winner and songwriter Melissa Etheridge, a breast cancer survivor, to help deliver public service messages through print, radio and various in-store communications.

For more information about the month-long breast cancer awareness campaign sponsored by Safeway go to www.safeway.com.

ABOUT SAFEWAY www.Safeway.com

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,740 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $40.2 billion in 2006. Safeway supports a broad range of charitable and community programs and last year donated more than $154 million to important causes, such as cancer research, education, food banks and programs focused on assisting people with disabilities. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.