SunLink Health Systems' Trace Regional Hospital Named as One of Thomson Reuters' 2007 Top 100 Performance Improvement Leaders

Wed. September 03, 2008; Posted: 05:00 PM

ATLANTA, Sep 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- TRIN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- SunLink Health Systems, Inc. (AMEX: SSY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) today announced that its Trace Regional Hospital, an 84-licensed bed, acute care hospital located in Houston, MS, was named as one of only 100 Thomson Reuters' Top Performance Improvement Leaders in 2007, one of only 20 that made the roster in the Small Community Hospitals category and the only Mississippi hospital in its category to receive this award. Performance measures for improvement leaders included eight key measures that were compared to five-year trends for peer hospitals including, patient safety, complications, length of stay, mortality, expense per discharge, cash-to-debt ratio and total profitability as well as a score based on adherence to evidence-based processes.

Robert M. Thornton, Jr., chief executive officer of SunLink Health Systems, Inc., stated, "We are extremely pleased with Trace Regional Hospital's diligence to continually raise the bar for improvement in sustainable and reliable community health care, while at the same time contributing to SunLink's financial results. This award, with stringent five-year peer hospital comparisons (2002-2006), demonstrates SunLink's mission to provide facilities, services, products, and dedicated physicians and health professionals to deliver quality, efficient medical care to residents of rural communities it serves."

Trace Regional Hospital is the third of SunLink's seven hospitals to receive national recognition for operational excellence or improvement in the last three years. SunLink's Chestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlonega, GA received Thomson Reuter's (formerly known as Solucient) award as a recipient of its 100 Top Hospital Performance Improvement Leaders in May 2006 and Missouri Southern Healthcare in Dexter, MO received its award as one of 100 Top Hospitals for excellence in hospital management and performance in March 2006.

The Thomson Reuters' Performance Improvement Leaders 2007 report and a related article appear in the August 11, 2008 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.

About SunLink Health Systems

SunLink Health Systems, Inc. currently operates seven community hospitals and related nursing home and home care businesses in the Southeast and Midwest and its specialty pharmacy business, SunLink Scripts Rx, in Louisiana. Each SunLink hospital is the only hospital in its community. SunLink's operating strategy is to link patients' needs with dedicated physicians and health professionals to deliver quality, efficient medical care and healthcare products and services in each area it serves. For additional information on SunLink Health Systems, Inc., please visit the company's website at www.sunlinkhealth.com.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific, healthcare and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people in 93 countries.

SOURCE: SunLink Health Systems, Inc.

SunLink Health Systems, Inc. Robert M. Thornton, Jr., 770-933-7000 Chief Executive Officer

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