Community Health Systems Acquires Waukegan, Illinois, Health System

Brentwood, TN - Community Health Systems, Inc. announced the closing, effective July 1, 2006, of the acquisition of the healthcare assets of Vista Health, which include Victory Memorial Hospital (336 licensed beds) and St. Therese Medical Center (currently utilizing 71 non-acute care beds), both located in Waukegan, Illinois and to be renamed "Vista Medical Center East" and "Vista Medical Center West," respectively. Other assets being acquired are Vista Imaging Center, located in Gurnee, Vista Surgery and Treatment Center in Lindenhurst, and Vista M.R. Institute, with locations in Lindenhurst and Gurnee. The seller is a non-profit corporation.

"We are very pleased to bring these important, community based health care assets into the Community Health Systems portfolio of facilities," said Wayne T. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Community Health Systems, Inc. "We would like to thank the patients, the medical staff, the employees, and the other community stakeholders who have supported us during the approval process for this transaction, and we look forward to working with and serving each of these groups."

Located in the Nashville, Tennessee, suburb of Brentwood, Community Health Systems is a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities throughout the country. Through its subsidiaries, the Company currently owns, leases or operates 76 hospitals in 22 states. Its hospitals offer a broad range of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CYH."

SOURCE: Community Health Systems, Inc.