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Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Uses Time Warner Telecom's Next-Gen Services to Advance Its Network Capabilities

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 December 2006, 12:00 CST

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Time Warner Telecom Inc., , a leading provider of managed voice and data networking solutions for businesses, today announced a multi-year contract to provide next-generation Ethernet-based data and native storage transport services to Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare of Milwaukee.

"Time Warner Telecom stood head and shoulders above the competitors," said Larry Griffith, director of Technology Operations with Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in Milwaukee. "We explained our requirements and they worked with us, our HP SAN provider, and our Brocade switch vendor technicians to develop a scalable, reliable, and survivable system design. In all my 23 years in this business, this is the first time I've ever seen a vendor nail down the design details even before the contract was signed."

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, a provider of comprehensive health services throughout Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, is updating its IT infrastructure to incorporate an electronic health records (EHR) archive as well as an improved disaster-recovery capability. The company referenced Time Warner Telecom's flexibility, scalability, and responsiveness for their selection as provider.

"In order to replicate 14 terabytes of data at an offsite location we needed to work with a provider that could meet our large bandwidth requirements over a reliable network," added Griffith. "Time Warner Telecom met the large-capacity, low-latency and Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements we needed from a communications provider. Our mission-critical applications must be available 24 x 7, so we deploy enough bandwidth to keep them running optimally."

After working with the Wheaton Franciscan team to assess its growing volumes of patient data, the Time Warner Telecom design team recommended two 2 Gbps Fibre Channel circuits between the company's corporate operations center and a disaster recovery site. With the ability to chart and back-up medication management and lab systems, Wheaton Franciscan's staff will be able to improve patient outcomes through safe and fast electronic access to patient data. Time Warner Telecom's solutions are a fundamental building block in enabling this new technology. All data that is generated will be synchronously mirrored to the DR site across these highly secure links.

Additionally, Time Warner Telecom will provide a fully meshed network for six Wheaton Franciscan sites with access to the company's datacenter at speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps levels. The ease with which services can be scaled to meet business needs was a key factor for Wheaton Franciscan.

"Wheaton's implementation of high-bandwidth connections for its network reflects a movement we've seen with healthcare providers across the country," said Jeff Lowney, vice president and general manager for Time Warner Telecom in Milwaukee. "Medical providers are experiencing an explosion of data driven by new applications, such as cardiology and MRI imaging tools that generate extremely large files. These files must be accessible to providers from multiple locations as well as stored and protected. This abundance of data is driving a significant amount of redundant capacity needs that Time Warner Telecom is well positioned to provide. As the industry migrates from paper to electronic medical records, the demand for data services will only accelerate."

About Time Warner Telecom

Time Warner Telecom Inc., headquartered in Littleton, Colo., provides managed network services, specializing in Ethernet and transport data networking, Internet access, local and long distance voice, VoIP and security, to enterprise organizations and communications services companies throughout the U.S. As a leading provider of integrated and converged network solutions, Time Warner Telecom delivers customers overall economic value, quality, service, and improved business productivity. Please visit http://www.twtelecom.com/ for more information.

About Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in Wisconsin

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare (WFH) is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization with more than 100 health and shelter organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Illinois. In Southeast Wisconsin, WFH is co-sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscan and Felician Sisters and has more than 12,000 associates, making it the second largest private employer in the area. Hospitals include All Saints in Racine, St. Joseph and St. Francis in Milwaukee, Elmbrook Memorial in Brookfield, and a joint venture affiliation with The Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Wauwatosa. The region also includes Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group with nearly 300 primary care and specialty physicians in more than 60 locations, a network of outpatient centers, four long-term care facilities, Home Health, and Hospice, two Family Medicine Residency programs in collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin, retail pharmacies, and a full- service medical and pathology laboratory.

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare is also affiliated with Affinity Healthcare in the Fox Valley and United Hospital System in Kenosha. Started by the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters more than 125 years ago and formally incorporated in 1983, WFH has corporate services offices in Wheaton, Illinois and Glendale, Wisconsin.

Time Warner Telecom Inc.

CONTACT: Patrick Mulcahy of Time Warner Telecom Inc., +1-303-566-1470,patrick.mulcahy@twtelecom.com

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

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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