FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Marilyn K. Potts, APR, Public Relations/Marketing Specialist - (210) 575-0170

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The name of Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital has been changed to Methodist Hospital, officially. For as long as Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital has existed (now over 40 years), the community, physicians, patients and families have referred to the hospital as "Methodist Hospital,” so the official name has been changed to reflect this. The name change also relates to the fact that Methodist Healthcare System now operates all its acute care hospitals under a single Medicare provider number. This combination provides operational efficiencies such as inclusion on the Solucient “100 Top Hospitals” list, a ranking that is shared by all Methodist Hospital acute care campuses.

While Methodist Healthcare is simplifying the name of Methodist Hospital, said John Hornbeak, Methodist Healthcare CEO, the system is also celebrating two major $50 expansions – one enhancing emergency care and adding monitored beds at Northeast Methodist Hospital, and the other adding a dedicated Women’s Pavilion and quadrupling the size of the emergency department at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital.

Methodist Healthcare is San Antonio’s largest and most preferred health care provider with 23 facilities including seven acute care hospitals: Methodist Heart Hospital*, Methodist Children’s Hospital of South Texas*, Methodist Hospital, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital*, Northeast Methodist Hospital*, Metropolitan Methodist Hospital* and Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Hospital--Northwest.

* A Methodist Hospital facility.