Health & Wellness Foundation Formed Under Recent Purchase of Pottstown Healthcare Corporation

Pottstown, PA – July 9, 2003 – Improving the health and wellness of Pottstown area residents is the top priority for the new Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation. Created on July 1, 2003, from the sale of Pottstown Healthcare Corporation and its affiliated operations, including the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, the Foundation is off to a solid start with approximately $65 million in net assets.

According to Milton D. Martyny, president of the Foundation and a long-time Pottstown resident, the Foundation will be dedicated to assuring increased access to health and wellness education and services for residents within a 10-mile radius of Pottstown. It will identify, select, and provide grants to non-profit Section 501c(3) organizations that provide health and wellness-related services in the area.

“Using income from the assets of the Foundation, we will work to ensure programs are in place that promote good health and wellness,” said Martyny. “Through the efforts of organizations in our community, a strong focus on educational programs and ongoing fundraising efforts, we will meet the goal of providing continuous improvement in health and wellness for our neighbors.”

Health and wellness programs that inform people how to adopt a healthy lifestyle through harmonization of mind, body and spirit, will positively affect people of all ages. Martyny added: “Health and wellness education focuses on preventing illness, not treating it. Through education, members of the community can learn to adopt a healthy lifestyle that will make them feel better and enjoy life even more,” he explained. “A healthy lifestyle often results in a longer life and better health in old age.”

The Foundation’s first major decision (which is expected shortly) will be the selection of a professional health needs assessment firm to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Pottstown area’s needs.

“We expect this assessment, which will take place in the greater part of a year, to provide us with a list of significant health issues,” explained Martyny. “The Foundation,” he continued, “will evaluate the data in order to select several areas in which we can make the greatest impact to the most residents.” Then, through solicitations from Section 501c(3) non-profit organizations, the Foundation will determine which specific proposals will be funded and to what extent.

In order to ensure that Community Health Systems has met its obligations under the terms of the sale, an Oversight Committee of the Foundation has been established.

“The committee’s function is to make certain that all of the terms of the purchase agreement have been met,” Martyny stated. “One of our board members will also serve on the hospital board. Both the Attorney General and the Orphan’s Court will have oversight authority as well.”

The Executive Committee of the Foundation’s Board of Directors includes: Martyny; Ted Drauschak, vice president; D. Scott Detar, CPA, treasurer; and Sharon Weaver. Other members of the Board are: Robert Boyce; Matthew Cappelletti, CPA; Catherine Endy; P. Richard Frantz, AIA; Howard Kalis III, Esq.; Gary Kerchner; Rev. Burlington Latshaw III; James Lennon, CPA; Robert Moses and Reginald Nealy.

The Foundation office is located at 13 Armand Hammer Blvd., Chestmont Building in Pottstown. For more information, call 610-323-2006 or visit the Foundation’s web site: www.pottstownfoundation.org.