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Dear Employees:

Let me begin by thanking each of you for your faith in Beaufort County Medical Center and your service to our hospital and patients. It is clear that our medical staff and employees care deeply about our hospital and its importance to our community.

Since our Board recommended that Community Health Systems be selected as the partner to help secure the future of our hospital, there has been a constant stream of information - and, unfortunately, some misinformation - as well as many opinions and questions about that decision. We realize this matter affects you and your work. It is not our desire for you to work in a state of uncertainty, anxiety, or concern. If you have not already viewed the January 3rd Board meeting in its entirety, I urge you to do that. It is available via Suddenlink and Tri-County cable services or on a DVD available at the public library. During this and other meetings, the Board addressed - in open session - many of the questions that are now being raised in the media. I trust when you view this recording, you will have factual information on which to form your own opinion.

Although I can’t address every concern in this memo, I want to speak to the issues I have heard about most frequently and provide you factual information about matters that I think are most important to our hospital team.

Our employees

The Board carefully weighed the impact of its decision on our hospital employees. If we complete an agreement with CHS, our employees will be hired into their same positions, at the same rate of pay, with their seniority recognized. Employees will move to a new CHS benei ts plan, which includes comprehensive health and retirement packages. Separately, current retirement benei ts would be paid in full and held secure.

Representatives from CHS are eager to share more information about their organization with you. CHS has approximately 80,000 employees across the country. They have developed many great programs for employees, and if we move forward, they will hold detailed orientation sessions to help you understand the organization and the benei ts and resources available to you.

Our services

We are very proud of the health services we provide to our community. We will continue to provide and grow these services. In particular, I would like to address rumors about the future of our Cancer Center. The Cancer Center is not in jeopardy with CHS. Any claims to the contrary are simply incorrect. Our center is hailed as a model in the region. We plan to keep it that way and will continue to provide and expand services for our clients. The Cancer Center was a very important consideration in our negotiations.

Other services will remain in place, and with the $25 million capital commitment over the i rst i ve years from CHS, we would have the resources to grow services, improve facilities, upgrade technology, and recruit more physicians to complement our already excellent medical staff.

CHS afi liated hospitals accept Medicare, Medicaid and most major commercial insurance plans. If we move forward, CHS will also continue to provide a charity care policy at our hospital, as it does in its

Letter from Alice Mills Sadler

other afi liated hospitals, to help care for low-income families in our community.

Our quality of care

Let me assure you that working with “greater efi ciency” does not mean working without the supplies needed to diagnose and provide quality care for our patients. CHS is a leading provider of health care, with 126 hospitals across America. With their group purchasing power, they are able to secure the same supplies we buy - at a reduced price.

CHS has many resources and programs that are designed to improve hospital quality, safety and the patient experience. During our discussions, they demonstrated their ability to improve quality ratings in the hospitals they manage. In turn, we were very direct about our commitment to quality and stressed that they would inherit an excellent staff to carry on our high standard of care - and that impressed them. The fact that you continue to put patients i rst, despite the inevitable anxiety and distractions that come with the process in which we are now engaged, proves that we portrayed your commitment accurately.

Finally, let me acknowledge it would be impossible in this situation to make a decision that pleases everyone. I ask that you trust your governing board on this call. It is easy to criticize that with which you are unfamiliar, especially when contrasted against things that are familiar and comfortable. But, change can be positive, too.

Until and after all of this is settled, I ask you to focus on one fact: “We are still BRHS providing care to a community that needs us.” Thank you for making that happen everyday. Stay as calm as you are blessed and we will all make it through this together.

HOOD RICHARDSON, BEAUFORT COUNTY COMMISSIONER HOSPITAL AUTHORITY BOARD MEMBER

CHAIRMAN, BEAUFORT REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM FINANCE COMMITTEE

252-975-3472hrichardsonpa@embarqmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 11, 2011

As a Beaufort County Commissioner and a member of the Beaufort Regional Health System (BRHS) Hospital Authority Board, I understand this morning that Community Health Systems (CHS) has chosen to withdraw their proposal to lease our hospital.

In my opinion, the majority of the elected Beaufort County Board of Commissioners continues to remain committed to securing the best business arrangement that will produce the highest quality health care for the people of Beaufort County.

Jerry Langley, Chairman of the elected Board of Commissioners, said this morning, “The County Commissioners will continue its thorough study of available alternatives for the operation of our community’s hospital. We have good proposals still on the table and we want to protect the value of this most important county asset.”

In my opinion, Beaufort County’s options for future hospital management include an offer from LHP, Inc. Their proposal allows the community to continue to have a voice in hospital operations. We will also continue the study of an offer from University Health Systems (UHS) and, i nally, the possibility of continuing to operate the Hospital ourselves.

Other viable proposals existed early on in the Hospital Authority Board’s RFP process that may now demand further review of not only the elected Board of County Commissioners, but also the appointed Hospital Authority Board.

I look forward to continuing my work with both the appointed Hospital Authority Board and the elected Board of County Commissioners to i nd the best operator for our community’s hospital.

###I will be available at 3:00 today at 121 West 3rd Street (County Government Ofi ces) for any necessary rdrd

interviews.Hood Richardson252-975-3472hrichardsonpa@embarqmail.com

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