Hospital Name Change February 4, 2002 Catawba County Commissioners Approve Name Change for Local Hospital HICKORY, N.C. The Catawba County Commissioners voted unanimously today to recognize the growth and capabilities of the county’s publicly owned health care facility. Beginning March 1, 2002, Catawba Memorial Hospital will be known as Catawba Valley Medical Center. There were several reasons for the change cited in the formal resolution. The hospital has become a regional provider, serving patients from a five-county area. The hospital has achieved local, regional, state and national recognition and accreditations for medical excellence, including designation in 2001 by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as only the 32nd Magnet Hospital in the nation. The hospital is an established training site for Wake Forest University School of Medicine and East Carolina School of Medicine for physician residency programs. More than 250 medical staff members represent the range of medical specialties consistent with those practicing in a regional medical center. The hospital’s Trustees requested the change in identity to better reflect the hospital’s regional provider status and the range of services available at the facility. Catawba Valley Medical Centeris one of only a few remaining publicly owned hospitals in the state and operates without the use of local tax dollars. “We are pleased that our trustees and the Catawba County Commissioners have recognized the quality and scope of medical services available to the citizens of this region,” said President and CEO Tony Rose. “The foresight and vision of the county’s commissioners and original Board of Trustees in 1962, followed by the careful guidance of subsequent trustees and commissioners, laid the groundwork for the growth and development of a community hospital into the regional medical center it is today.” Catawba Valley Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare system providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the public in addition to serving as a center for health education, wellness services and preventative medicine. It was recently designated as the thirty-second Magnet facility in the nation and the second in the Carolinas.