Hill-Rom Announces Sale of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Intellectual Property

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Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:00am EDT

BATESVILLE, Ind., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC) today
announced the sale of Hill-Rom's patents and intellectual property relating to
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) to Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE: KCI). 
Hill-Rom's NPWT portfolio included U.S. and foreign patents and patent
applications covering innovations to NPWT components, protocols, and related
therapies. The transaction is effective immediately. Terms were not disclosed.


"The sale of these assets is a continuation of our portfolio rationalization
initiative to more tightly focus on our core competencies and businesses that
offer attractive and profitable growth opportunities for our shareholders,"
said Peter H. Soderberg, president and CEO, Hill-Rom Holdings. "While we have
successfully developed valuable IP in the area of NPWT, the disposition of
these assets is in line with our corporate strategy."

"KCI remains squarely focused on patient care and creating new alternatives in
advanced wound healing and other areas," said Catherine M. Burzik, KCI
President and Chief Executive Officer.  "We will continue to make investments
that put us in position to innovate and to deliver great alternatives to the
medical community and patients." 

ABOUT HILL-ROM
Hill-Rom is a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of medical
technologies and related services for the health care industry, including
patient support systems, safe mobility and handling solutions, non-invasive
therapeutic products for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions,
medical equipment rentals, and information technology solutions.  Hill-Rom's
comprehensive product and service offerings are used by health care providers
across the health care continuum in hospitals, extended care facilities and
home care settings to enhance the safety and quality of patient care.
Hill-Rom...enhancing outcomes for patients and their caregivers.
www.hill-rom.com

Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking statements,
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
regarding the Company's future plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations,
representations and projections.  The Company has tried, wherever possible, to
identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "intend,"
"anticipate," "believe," "plan," "encourage," "expect," "may," "goal,"
"become," "pursue," "estimate," "strategy," "will," "project," "forecast,"
"continue," "accelerate," "promise," "increase," "higher," "lower," "reduce,"
"improve," "expand," "progress," "potential" or the negative of those terms or
other variations of them or by comparable terminology.  The absence of such
terms, however, does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking.  It
is important to note that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance, and the Company's actual results could differ materially
from those set forth in any forward-looking statements.  Factors that could
cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements include but are
not limited to: the Company's dependence on its relationships with several
large group purchasing organizations, whether the Company's new products are
successful in the marketplace, changes in customers' Medicare reimbursements,
collections of accounts receivable, compliance with FDA regulations, antitrust
litigation, potential exposure to product liability or other claims, failure
of the Company's announced or future strategic initiatives and restructuring
and realignment activities to achieve expected growth, efficiencies or cost
reductions, disruptions in the Company's business or other adverse
consequences resulting from the recent spin-off of the funeral service
business, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the spin-off, failure
of the Company to execute its acquisition and business alliance strategy
through the consummation and successful integration of acquisitions or entry
into joint ventures or other business alliances, increased costs or
unavailability of raw materials, adverse changes in global economic conditions
or disruptions of credit markets, labor disruptions, the ability to retain
executive officers and other key personnel, and certain tax-related matters. 
For a more in depth discussion of these and other factors that could cause
actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements,
see the discussions under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the period ended September 30, 2008 and the Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009.  The Company assumes
no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.


SOURCE  Hill-Rom

Investor Relations, Blair A. (Andy) Rieth, Jr., Vice President, Investor
Relations, Corporate Communications & Global Brand Development,
+1-812-931-2199, andy.rieth@hill-rom.com, or Media, Lauren Green-Caldwell,
Director, Corporate Communications & Public Relations, +1-812-934-8692,
lauren.green-caldwell@hill-rom.com
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