Premier Honors Contracted Suppliers Whose Performance Demonstrates Operational Excellence

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(Business Wire)--
The Premier healthcare alliance`s Purchasing Partners, LP division has
recognized the winners of its annual awards for suppliers exceeding operational
and quality expectations.

Premier`s fourth annual Pinnacle and Performance Awards applaud the efforts of
contracted suppliers in meeting or exceeding operational expectations. In
selecting recipients, performance data is collected and scored over four
successive calendar quarters. Contracted suppliers scoring 95 percent or higher
earn the Pinnacle Award; organizations scoring between 85 percent to 94 percent
earn the Performance Award.

Additionally, Premier honored select winners of the Pinnacle and Performance
Awards with its first annual Polaris Award. Cardinal Health of Dublin, Ohio, and
Owens & Minor Inc. of Mechanicsville, Va., received the award, which celebrates
suppliers that have exceeded operational expectations and excelled at the
qualitative aspects of service. Premier members ranked the winners through a
survey on the top five Pinnacle and Performance Award winners who scored 90
percent or better on their scorecard.

"Premier is pleased to recognize our top performing suppliers that strive for
collaboration and performance excellence to the benefit of the alliance," said
Premier Purchasing Partners President Mike Alkire. "These suppliers work to
exceed the needs of alliance member hospitals, and we commend their unsurpassed
efforts to the alliance as we help them better serve their communities."

Award winners were recognized at the 2009 Premier Annual Breakthroughs
Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, Calif. on June 17.

The 19 Pinnacle Award winners for 2009 are: Aesculap Inc. - A B. Braun Company;
Aspen Surgical; AVID Medical Inc.; BIOTRONIK Inc.; Cardinal Health; Edwards
Lifesciences; Fisher HealthCare; Iris Diagnostics; Kreisers Inc; Covidien;
MEDRAD Interventional/Possis; Michael Foods Inc.; Owens & Minor Inc.;
Southmedic/Personna Medical; Phoenix Textile Corporation; Precept Medical
Products Inc.; Trident Seafoods; Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics; and Sysmex
America Inc.

The following 45 suppliers received the Performance Award in 2009:
AFFLINK
Agfa HealthCare
Ambu Inc.
Apotex Corporation
Atrium Medical Corporation
Bard Electrophysiology Division
Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc.
Bio-Rad Laboratories
Cadwell Laboratories Inc.
CONMED Corporation
Country Pure Foods, LLC
Datascope Patient Monitoring - A Mindray Global Company
DeKroyft-Metz & Co. Inc.
First Healthcare Products
Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc.
GE Healthcare, Clinical Systems
GE Healthcare, Diagnostic Imaging
Getinge USA Inc.
Gregory Packaging Inc.
Hill-Rom Company Inc.
HLS MedFreight
I-Flow Corporation
Instrumentation Laboratory
Kimberly-Clark Health Care
Lumenis Inc.
McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Merit Medical Systems Inc.
Mobile Instrument Service & Repair Inc.
Molnlycke Health Care
Olympus America Inc.
Philips Healthcare, Imaging Systems Division
Philips Healthcare, Ultrasound & Monitoring Division
Possis Medical Inc.
Professional Hospital Supply
ReNu Medical Inc.
Sage Products Inc.
Sara Lee Foodservice
Seneca Medical Inc.
Shamrock Labeling Systems
SKYTRON
The Standard Register Company
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc.
Tremco Inc.
U.S. Foodservice
W.L. Gore & Associates
Wells Dairy Inc.
White Wave Foods
ZOLL Medical Corporation

For more information, please visit:
http://www.premierinc.com/about/news/awards/index.jsp.

About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

The Premier healthcare alliance is more than 2,100 U.S. hospitals and
58,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to improve healthcare
quality and affordability. Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive
repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a
leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver
measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to
improve hospital performance. Premier has offices in San Diego, Charlotte, N.C.,
Philadelphia and Washington.

Premier Inc.
Alven Weil, 704-733-5797

Copyright Business Wire 2009