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Health First Healthcare System Awards Harris Corporation Enterprise-wide Network Management and IT Services Contract

Posted on: Thursday, 12 February 2009, 10:00 CST

MELBOURNE, Fla., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a ten-year contract by Rockledge, Florida-based, Health First, a not-for-profit healthcare system, to provide network management and IT services for the healthcare provider's enterprise-wide operations. The Health First Infrastructure Services (HFIS) contract includes software and hardware support, 24/7 network operations center, help desk, training, and network security services.

"Health First is very excited to be able to tap Harris, ranked as one of the largest government IT contractors, to manage our network and IT infrastructure so that we can focus on providing the best care for our patients," said Michael Means, president/CEO of Health First. "We selected Harris because of the company's tremendous expertise and their focus on providing the high level of assured communications and information technology that our patients deserve. We expect the program team to work collaboratively with us to continue the outstanding work that our Health First IT associates had already done and to take our enterprise to the next level."

"We are delighted to team with Health First, a major healthcare provider on Florida's Space Coast and a source of outstanding health services for many of our employees," said Howard L. Lance, Harris chairman, president and CEO. "The contract demonstrates Harris Corporation's continued expansion into the healthcare market, a key focus of future growth for the company. Harris has significant technical capabilities and a broadly distributed IT workforce that are well suited for the national and international expansion and infrastructure upgrades in healthcare markets. The contract is the company's first managed services contract in commercial healthcare."

Health First's three Florida hospitals - Cape Canaveral Hospital (Cocoa Beach), Holmes Regional Medical Center (Melbourne) and Palm Bay Hospital (Palm Bay) care for over 36,000 inpatients and 124,000 emergency patients each year. In addition, Health First includes a network of outpatient and wellness services, a Level II Trauma Center, Health First Foundation, Hospice of Health First, four Pro-health & Fitness Centers, Health First Physicians and Health First Health Plans. Additional information about Health First is available at www.health-first.org

The HFIS contract represents the fifth healthcare project awarded to Harris in the past year. Earlier this year, Harris was awarded a contract to provide application and network support for the U.S. Army Dental Command Information Management & Technology Division. The company also was awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop and integrate the Nationwide Health Information Network-CONNECT (NHIN-CONNECT) project. NHIN-CONNECT will enable federal healthcare agencies and healthcare providers to more quickly and easily share patient information, improving the quality of care and reducing costs. And most recently, Harris was awarded a contract to provide programming support and other IT services to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Harris is a leading provider of IT and network services to 800,000 U.S. government customers at more than 300 locations nationwide, including defense, intelligence, civilian, and healthcare agencies. Harris Healthcare Solutions provides enterprise intelligence solutions and services for commercial and government customers, including systems integration, intelligent infrastructure, advanced visualization and display, enterprise digital content management, and IT services solutions. Harris products, systems, and services improve health outcomes by assuring that critical medical information is delivered with security and privacy to the right person, on the right device, at the point of care.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of $5.4 billion and 16,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications(R) products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.

SOURCE Harris Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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