New York, NY, January 11, 2006 - Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent's) announced today that it has put in place a $350 million debtor-in-possession secured credit facility with GE Healthcare Financial Services as the Administrative Agent and Sole Arranger. GE is syndicating the loan to a variety of institutions.

In an innovative move by a healthcare provider in New York State, Saint Vincent's will use a portion of the financing to retire all of the publicly held bonds issued by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). The new financing is at lower effective rates than the financing previously in place. The new financing also relies solely on private lenders that will give Saint Vincent's greater flexibility to transfer and use its assets throughout the reorganization. Included under the DIP covenants is the ability to upgrade physical plants in the restructured system.

"The DIP financing agreement gives Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers sufficient liquidity while we restructure and allows us to continue to provide high quality services throughout the process," said Guy Sansone, CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer for Saint Vincent's. "We are extremely encouraged that GE Healthcare Financial Services has partnered with Saint Vincent's giving us the flexibility to move the organization forward as an innovative and fiscally sound healthcare provider in the New York market."

Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers is one of the New York metropolitan area's most comprehensive health care systems, serving nearly 600,000 people annually. SVCMC was established in 2000 as a result of the merger of Catholic Medical Centers of Brooklyn and Queens, Saint Vincents Hospital and Medical Center of New York and Sisters of Charity Healthcare in Staten Island. Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn and the president of the Sisters of Charity of New York, SVCMC serves as the academic medical center of New York Medical College in New York City. The organization includes six hospitals: Mary Immaculate Hospital, Queens; St. John's Queens Hospital; St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan; St. Vincent's Hospital Staten Island; Bayley Seton Hospital, Staten Island; and St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester. Resources include over 2,500 physicians, four skilled nursing facilities, a system-wide home care service, a hospice and over 60 ambulatory care sites which provide a broad array of medical, psychiatric and substance abuse services. In 2004, SVCMC recorded over 92,000 inpatient discharges, more than 1,100,000 outpatient visits, and 640,000 home care visits. Its emergency rooms, which include three Level 1 trauma centers, received 255,000 visits in that same year, while SVCMC is the largest private provider of EMS services in the New York City Fire Department's 9-1-1 service. Also in 2003, St. Clare's Hospital, now St. Vincent's Midtown, became affiliated with the healthcare organization.

GE Healthcare Financial Services is a provider of capital, financial solutions, and related services for the global healthcare market. With over $13 billion of capital committed to the healthcare industry, GE Healthcare Financial Services offers a full range of capabilities from equipment financing and real estate financing to working capital lending, vendor programs, and practice acquisition financing. With its knowledge of all aspects of healthcare from hospitals and long-term care facilities to physicians' practices and life sciences, GE Healthcare Financial Services works with customers to create tailored financial solutions that help them improve their productivity and profitability. For more information, visit .

Media Contacts

Deia Campanelli
GE Healthcare Financial Services
312-441-6169