Group Manages Neonatal, Pediatric Critical Care, Emergency and Hospitalist Services

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 21, 2009-- MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD) has completed the acquisition of Children’s Health Network (CHN), a physician group practice that provides a variety of inpatient pediatric physician services at 11 hospitals in four states.

CHN was started in 1996 as a pediatric critical care practice providing services at a Las Vegas, Nevada, hospital. Today, physicians practicing as part of CHN provide patient care at neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, pediatric emergency departments and through pediatric hospitalist programs at hospitals in California, Nevada, Montana and Louisiana.

“We’ve grown beyond a traditional physician group because we consider several stakeholders as part of our vision of care, from our hospital partners to other clinical professionals involved with caring for our patients,” said James Swift, M.D., who founded CHN and will continue to lead the group as part of MEDNAX’s Pediatrix operating division. “Pediatrix has a similar vision, and we look forward to the opportunities that will come from collaborating as part of a much larger network to gather outcomes data and to improve patient quality within our pediatric subspecialties.”

CHN physicians staff two neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Las Vegas, Nevada, and one in southern California that have combined annual patient volume of approximately 25,000 patient days. The 12 neonatologists will practice as part of Pediatrix’s national physician group practice, which now consists of more than 850 neonatologists

In addition, CHN includes 28 pediatric critical care physicians who staff the pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) at eight hospitals, and 24 pediatric hospitalists in 10 hospitals in California, Nevada, Montana and Louisiana. As a result of this transaction, Pediatrix now has more than 80 pediatric hospitalists and more than 65 pediatric critical care physicians who practice as part of its national group practice.

CHN also has 17 pediatric emergency medicine specialists who staff one hospital in Las Vegas and one in Lafayette, Louisiana. Pediatric emergency medicine is a new clinical service for Pediatrix.

At most of the 11 hospitals at which the group practices, CHN manages multiple pediatric specialty services.

Dr. Swift is co-editor of “Pediatric Hospital Medicine: Textbook of Inpatient Management,” which, when it was published in 2007 was the first textbook for pediatricians practicing in in-patient settings.

MEDNAX acquired CHN for cash, and the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to its earnings. No additional terms of the transaction were disclosed.

With the acquisition of CHN, MEDNAX has completed eight physician group practice acquisitions during 2009.

ABOUT MEDNAX

MEDNAX, Inc., is a national medical group that comprises the nation’s leading provider of neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric physician subspecialty services as well as anesthesia services. Physicians and advanced practitioners practicing as part of MEDNAX are reshaping the delivery of care within their specialties and subspecialties, using evidence-based tools, continuous quality initiatives and clinical research to enhance patient outcomes and provide high-quality, cost-effective care. Pediatrix Medical Group, a unit of MEDNAX, was founded in 1979 and now includes neonatal physicians who provide services at more than 250 neonatal intensive care units, who collaborate with affiliated maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric cardiology and pediatric intensivist physician subspecialists to provide a clinical care continuum. Pediatrix is also the nation’s largest provider of newborn hearing screens. In 2007, the Company expanded into anesthesia services. Today, American Anesthesiology includes more than 450 anesthesiologists and advanced practitioners. MEDNAX, through its affiliated professional corporations, employs more than 1,400 physicians in 33 states and Puerto Rico. Additional information is available at www.mednax.com.

Certain statements and information in this press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements which may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our objectives, plans and strategies, and all statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These statements are often characterized by terminology such as “believe,” “hope,” “may,” “anticipate,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy” and similar expressions, and are based on assumptions and assessments made by MEDNAX’s management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and MEDNAX undertakes no duty to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results, developments, and business decisions to differ materially from forward-looking statements are described in MEDNAX’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, including the sections entitled “Risk Factors,” as well MEDNAX’s current reports on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: MEDNAX, Inc.

MEDNAX, Inc.
Bob Kneeley, 954-384-0175, x-5300
Director, Investor Relations
bob_kneeley@mednax.com