Mercy Health System Receives $2.9 Million Gift From Robert and Frieda Thornton

Rogers, AR (December 17, 2007) - An already exciting month of December for Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas has yet again been infused with an extra jolt of holiday cheer.

Now, less than two weeks before Christmas, yet another extraordinary seven-figure gift has been unwrapped.

The Foundation is pleased to share that Robert and Frieda Thornton have made a planned commitment of $2.9 million to go toward the $40 million Capital Campaign. Just last week, Mercy announced the details of a $1.75 million gift Jack and Melba Shewmaker made to the capital campaign.

The goal of the capital campaign is to raise $40 million to help build a world-class medical campus on I-540 that will change the landscape of healthcare in Northwest Arkansas. The Thornton's gift will be put toward the Mercy Medical Center Emergency Department.

"Frieda and I are elated with the opportunity to support Mercy and their transformation of healthcare in Northwest Arkansas," said Robert Thornton. "We made this commitment as grateful patients for the importance that good health care has to the quality of our lives."

"Announcing a gift of this magnitude is truly comparable to the magical feeling a child has when opening presents Christmas morning," said Susan Barrett, President of Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas. "The generosity of individuals like the Thornton's reinforces for me that the special meaning of Christmas is still very much present and with us."

Mercy's Chief Development Officer, Clark Ellison, said the Thornton's gift along with other recent gifts ? bring the capital campaign total to over $36 million.

"This has truly been a breathtaking month as we continue to witness the extraordinary generosity of the Northwest Arkansas community," Ellison said. "The $40 million Capital Campaign has been a marathon, and the recent gifts we have received from the Shewmaker?s and Thornton?s have propelled the Foundation within $4 million of reaching our goal."

With a March 16, 2008 anticipated opening, the $145 million Mercy medical campus will be funded through operational gains, investments and reinvestments totaling $105 million and the $40 million capital fund-raising campaign.

Mercy?s 21st century medical campus will be anchored by the 350,000-square-foot Mercy Medical Center with 200 beds and emergency services. Also on the medical campus is Mercy Physicians Plaza, which will open with about 40 physicians and include a number of Mercy clinics and medical specialties.

About Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas

Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas, a not-for-profit faith-based health system, provides healthcare services to residents in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. The System includes St. Mary's Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, The Gardens at Osage Terrace assisted living facility and Mercy medical clinics in 22 locations throughout northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. Mercy is currently constructing a state-of-the-art medical campus just east of Interstate 540 off New Hope Road in southwest Rogers. When completed in January 2008, the campus will include a 350,000-square-foot medical center ? Mercy Medical Center ? with 200 beds and a physician office building ? Mercy Physicians Plaza ? that will feature 11 clinics and 40 physicians when it opens. The patient move date for the Mercy Medical Center will be March 16, 2008.