University HealthSystem Consortium Names Ascent Healthcare Solutions Supplier of the Year at UHC 2009 Performance Excellence Forum

Award Recognizes Ascent Programs for Delivering Optimum Value and Customer
Satisfaction for UHC Members Representing about 90% of the Nation`s Nonprofit
Academic Medical Centers
PHOENIX--(Business Wire)--
Ascent Healthcare Solutions, a leader in delivering healthcare resource
sustainability, announced today that University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC)-an
alliance of 103 academic medical centers and 210 of their affiliated hospitals,
representing approximately 90% of the nation`s nonprofit academic medical
centers (AMCs)-presented Ascent with the inaugural UHC Supplier of the Year
award at the UHC 2009 Performance Excellence Forum. UHC selected Ascent as the
winner of this prestigious award based on the measurable value of Ascent`s
remanufacturing and reprocessing program for AMCs, customer service, and
contract performance.

UHC and its contracting services company, Novation, offer UHC members a
competitively priced portfolio of purchasing contracts that cover 85% of the
products and services needed by AMCs.

Roberta G. Graham, UHC`s Executive Vice President, stated, "We selected Ascent
as the winner of our UHC Supplier of the Year award because its program provides
unique and exceptional value to our AMCs in terms of reducing costs and reducing
overall impact to the environment."

Graham, who oversees operations and supply chain services, noted that the
program is consistent with UHC`s drive to optimize the supply chain, accelerate
the achievement of operational excellence, and create a successful and
environmentally responsible path for its members.

Kevin Liszewski, Ascent`s Vice President of Corporate Accounts, stated, "We are
honored to be chosen as the first winner of this award. Receiving recognition
for our program`s cost savings and environmental stewardship, as well as the
high level of customer care we provide, is validation of the complete solution
we offer and differentiates Ascent as a sustainability leader."

In 2008, Ascent provided UHC members with more than $11.2 million in supply
chain savings and elimination of more than 176,000 pounds of waste from local
landfills.

Download photo from the awards ceremony here.

About University HealthSystem Consortium

University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), formed in 1984, is an alliance of 103
academic medical centers and 210 of their affiliated hospitals, representing
approximately 90% of the nation`s nonprofit academic medical centers. UHC offers
its members specific programs and services to improve clinical, operational,
financial, and patient safety performance. The mission of UHC is to advance
knowledge, foster collaboration, and promote change to help members succeed in
their respective markets. For more information, visit www.uhc.edu.

ABOUT ASCENT HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS

By continuously pioneering sustainability initiatives in healthcare, Ascent
Healthcare Solutions has become a leader in the medical device industry.
Ascent`s programs target inefficient practices to reclaim and redirect
consumable and financial resources to promote healthy and responsible hospitals.
Today, Ascent`s medical device sustainability programs deliver remanufactured
and/or reprocessed medical devices as well as comprehensive recycling and
redistribution initiatives. Ascent has been recognized as a "Champion for
Change" by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (now Practice Greenhealth) in
recognition of the dramatic environmental benefits its remanufacturing and
reprocessing programs provide to U.S. hospitals and surgery centers. Ascent`s
more than 1,800 hospital partners include most of the U.S. News & World Report
"Honor Roll" hospitals. The company has agreements with all leading national
group purchasing organizations as well as numerous nationally recognized
hospital integrated delivery networks. For more information about Ascent
Healthcare Solutions, visit www.ascenths.com.

Amendola Communications for Ascent Healthcare Solutions
Janet Cabibbo, 480-664-8412 x15
jcabibbo@acmarketingpr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009