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Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., Agrees to Join Cressey & Company As Partner

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 November 2007, 09:01 CST

CHICAGO, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cressey & Company LP, a recently formed private investment firm focused on the healthcare industry, today announced that former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., has agreed to join the firm as a Partner. Senator Frist will work with the firm's experienced team to make new investments in promising healthcare companies as well as to provide clinical expertise and support to the firm's portfolio companies.

Cressey & Company, including partners Bryan C. Cressey and Peter S. Ehrich, is focused on making equity investments in middle-market companies in a diverse range of segments of the U.S. healthcare industry. The team proactively supports the managers of the companies in which it invests by helping identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, improve operations and accelerate growth. Underlying this focus is Cressey & Company's commitment to building enduring businesses dedicated to high quality care and clinical leadership.

"Senator Frist is a visionary and one of the most influential leaders in U.S. healthcare, and we are pleased that he is a part of our team," said Mr. Cressey, Partner of Cressey & Company. "He has a unique combination of experiences -- both as a practicing physician and as a former Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate -- that we believe will help us immensely as we identify and partner with management teams to transform growing healthcare businesses into world-class companies."

"Fundamental innovation in the U.S. healthcare system is critical, particularly as it relates to quality and efficiency," said Senator Frist, Partner of Cressey & Company. "My new colleagues have impressed me as having the skills and experience necessary to grow companies that provide innovative, quality care to patients. I'm excited to join the Cressey & Company team as we help build leading companies that will benefit and improve healthcare in America."

With his 1994 election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Frist became the first practicing physician to be elected to that body since 1928. He rose to Senate Majority Leader just eight years after his election, having served less time in Congress than anyone ever to hold that position. Throughout his tenure, he has been at the forefront of all major legislation on the financing, organization and delivery of healthcare. Fulfilling his pledge to serve just two terms, Senator Frist retired in 2007. He presently serves as the Frederick H. Schultz Class of 1951 Visiting Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University, teaching health economics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Prior to his election, Senator Frist spent 20 years in medicine, rising to national prominence as a heart and lung transplant surgeon. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. In the early 1980s, Senator Frist was appointed Chief Resident in Heart and Lung Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and in 1985 he joined the team of pioneering heart transplant surgeon Dr. Norman Shumway at Stanford University Medical Center. The following year, he became director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's heart and lung transplant program, and three years later, Senator Frist founded and became director of the Vanderbilt Multi-Organ Transplant Center.

"The addition of Senator Frist to our proven team of healthcare investors is a milestone achievement for our new firm," said Mr. Ehrich, Partner of Cressey & Company. "Senator Frist shares our philosophy of partnering with talented executives and building quality-focused healthcare companies. We look forward to his many contributions to the growth of our portfolio investments."

About Cressey & Company LP

Cressey & Company LP, headquartered in Chicago, is a private investment firm focused on the healthcare industry. The principals of the firm have been active healthcare investors for nearly three decades and have invested in a wide range of healthcare businesses. Cressey & Company seeks to invest in high-potential segments of the U.S. healthcare market and apply its skills and expertise -- along with its capital -- to enhance the performance and accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies. More information about Cressey & Company, including biographies of the firm's investment professionals, is available at http://www.cresseyco.com/.

Cressey & Company LP

CONTACT: Chuck Dohrenwend of The Abernathy MacGregor Group, for Cressey& Company, +1-212-371-5999

Web site: http://www.cresseyco.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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