IPC The Hospitalist Company Acquires Phoenix Are...( Continues Expansion in Key Arizon...),Health

Continues Expansion in Key Arizona Market

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM), a leading national physician group practice company, announced today that it has acquired a hospitalist practice group in Mesa, Arizona. The group has an ongoing contract with Banner Physician Hospital Organization (PHO) to provide hospitalist services to the PHO's patients in the Phoenix East Valley area. The practice also provides hospitalist services on a referral basis to a number of primary care and specialist physicians in the community.

The addition of this practice represents an expansion of IPC's operations in the Phoenix area, where the Company has a long-established presence. The practice was previously owned by Phoenix-based Apogee Medical Group, Inc.

IPC Chairman and CEO Adam Singer, M.D. said, "2008 marks the tenth anniversary of IPC's services in Phoenix area hospitals. This acquisition is a perfect way for us to mark this milestone, for it demonstrates our continued commitment to providing quality care to inpatients throughout this key market."

Saul Blair, Executive Director for IPC's Phoenix region since its inception in 1998, added, "This established and well-known practice group is an excellent addition to the IPC family. We look forward to serving the Banner PHO and the community of physicians who refer their patients to the group's hospitalists. Our proven infrastructure, especially our IPC-Link(R) communications technology, will allow us to continue to make enhancements to the quality of care delivered by this successful practice group."

Michael Gregory, M.D., Apogee's Chairman and CEO, commented, "We believe that the transition of th
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