APIPA and Yuma Regional Medical Center Sign Contract to Provide Services to Arizona...

APIPA and Yuma Regional Medical Center Sign Contract to Provide Services to Arizona CRS Beneficiaries

PHOENIX--(Business Wire)--
Arizona Physicians IPA (APIPA) and Yuma Regional Medical Center
(YRMC) in today announced an agreement that will provide beneficiaries
of Arizona's Children's Rehabilitative Services program (CRS) with
access to YRMC's full range of services and its 250 physicians.

Bill Hagan, CEO of APIPA, which was awarded a contract by the
State to manage the CRS program beginning next October 1, said, "We
are pleased that CRS beneficiaries and their families in Yuma and
southwestern Arizona will continue to have access to the services
provided by Yuma Regional Medical Center. APIPA and Yuma Regional
Medical Center are committed to high quality health care and
comprehensive services to the vulnerable population served by the CRS
program."

Pat Walz, YRMC chief financial officer, said, "Because of our
distance from Phoenix and Tucson, it is vital that CRS provide
services within our community so that families do not have to travel
out of town to get the care they need for their children. We are
pleased to partner with APIPA to be able to continue to bring this
clinical service to our youngsters in the community."

Joan Agostinelli, Administrator of the CRS program, said, "We are
pleased that CRS members will continue to be able to receive care from
the doctors that they have come to know through Yuma Regional Medical
Center. ADHS looks forward to working with both APIPA and Yuma
Regional Medical Center in continually improving the system of care
for children and youth with special health care needs."

About APIPA

APIPA, a unit of AmeriChoice, a UnitedHealth Group company, has
served the needs of medically underserved Arizonans since 1982,
including beneficiaries of the State's AHCCCS program and other
government sponsored program such as Medicare Advantage Special Needs
Plans, developmentally disabled, premium share and Medicaid in the
Public Schools. APIPA currently serves nearly 280,000 AHCCCS members,
many with unique or complex health conditions. In addition, it has
14,200 Medicare Special Needs Plans members and more than 9,600
Developmentally Disabled (DD) individuals through its contract with
the Arizona Department of Economic Security/Division of
Developmentally Disabled.

About Yuma Regional Medical Center

Yuma Regional Medical Center is a not-for-profit, full-service
333-bed acute care hospital. About 2,000 employees and more than 250
physicians join to create a health center unparalleled for a city the
size of Yuma. YRMC features a Women and Children Services Center; a
Level 2 EQ neonatal ICU. The Cullison Cardiac Care unit for open heart
surgery patients is part of our 42-bed Intensive Care Unit. Our Heart
Center provides the latest in interventional cardiology procedures,
such as heart and peripheral stenting and pacemaker implantation.

About Children's Rehabilitative Services

The Children's Rehabilitative Services program (CRS) is
administered by the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office for
Children with Special Health Care Needs (OCSHCN). The mission of CRS
is to improve the quality of life for children and youths up to age 21
with special health care needs by providing family-centered medical
treatment, rehabilitation, and related support services.

For APIPA
Steven Matthews, 212-898-8428 (office)
917-836-5759 (cell)
smatthews@uhc.com
or
For Yuma Medical Center
Machele Headington, 928-336-7111
mheadington@yumaregional.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008