Sonic Healthcare USA and ProMedica Health System Form New Laboratory Joint Venture Partnership

Sonic Healthcare USA (Sonic Healthcare) and ProMedica Health System (ProMedica) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to form a joint venture to enhance laboratory services for patients and healthcare providers throughout Ohio, Michigan, and parts of Indiana.

The joint venture will operate under the name of ProMedica Pathology Laboratories (PPL). This new entity combines the existing, high-quality, inpatient and outreach laboratory testing capabilities of ProMedica Laboratories with the outreach laboratory knowledge of Sonic Healthcare's Pathology Laboratories (PathLabs) division, based in Toledo, Ohio and the esoteric testing capabilities offered by Sonic Healthcare.

The joint venture will provide inpatient reference testing services for ProMedica's hospital-based rapid response laboratories, as well as a comprehensive menu of outreach testing services for physicians based in Ohio, Michigan, and parts of Indiana.

The new partnership will provide more comprehensive and responsive laboratory services for local physicians and healthcare providers. As an added benefit, over 90 percent of the testing completed by PPL will be performed locally at the joint venture's Toledo, Ohio core laboratory, maintaining critical jobs and skills along with the provision of healthcare services within the community.

"We are delighted to be partnering with ProMedica. This new company, PPL, is the next step forward in a healthcare collaboration that combines the complementary expertise and capabilities of Sonic Healthcare and ProMedica to provide high quality, community-based laboratory services in Ohio and beyond. It is also part of Sonic Healthcare's national strategy to create innovative laboratory affiliations with leading health systems around the country" said Steve Shumpert, Sonic Healthcare USA's Chief Executive Officer.

"ProMedica is extremely pleased to be participating in this joint venture with Sonic Healthcare USA. The newly combined organization has enabled us to expand the service as well as the geographic reach of ProMedica's existing lab services. We expect the economies of scale from this partnership to help us bring better value to our patients and expand our service offerings," said Kevin Webb, President, Provider, Acute and Ambulatory Care, ProMedica.

About ProMedica Health System

ProMedica is a mission-based, not-for-profit integrated healthcare organization headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. It serves communities in 30 states. The organization offers acute and ambulatory care, an insurance company with a dental plan, and post-acute and academic business lines. The organization has more than 70,000 employees, 13 hospitals, 2,700 physicians and advanced practice providers with privileges, 900+ healthcare providers employed by ProMedica Physicians, a health plan, and 450 assisted living facilities, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, memory care communities, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and hospice and home health care agencies. Driven by its Mission to improve your health and well-being, ProMedica has been nationally recognized for its advocacy programs and efforts to address social determinants of health. For more information about ProMedica, please visit www.promedica.org/aboutus.

About Sonic Healthcare USA

Sonic Healthcare USA is a subsidiary of Sonic Healthcare Limited, one of the world's largest medical diagnostics companies, providing laboratory services to medical practitioners, hospitals and community health services, with operations in eight countries, on three continents and providing care to over 100 million patients each year. Sonic Healthcare USA is a leading provider of state of the art laboratory services throughout the USA with nine operating divisions and over seven thousand US-based employees. Sonic Healthcare USA utilizes a federated business model that emphasizes medical leadership and community-based testing services to provide outstanding quality and service to the doctors and patients that they serve. For more information, visit Sonic Healthcare USA.