Press Release Details

Quest Diagnostics Acquires Denver Laboratory And Agrees to Manage Five Denver Hospital Labs

02/01/2001

TETERBORO, N.J., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced today that it had acquired the assets of Clinical Laboratories of Colorado (CLC), LLC. In connection with the transaction, Quest Diagnostics also entered into a laboratory services agreement with Centura Health, under which it will manage five Centura hospital laboratories in the Denver area. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

"This acquisition will improve access to high quality laboratory services for health care customers in the Rocky Mountain States," said Kenneth W. Freeman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Diagnostics. "As we integrate CLC into Quest Diagnostics' Denver laboratory, our highest priority will be to improve service levels for all customers."

Under the laboratory services agreement, Quest Diagnostics will manage rapid turnaround laboratories at five Centura hospitals in the Denver metropolitan area: Avista Adventist Hospital, Littleton Adventist Hospital, Porter Adventist Hospital, St. Anthony Central Hospital and St. Anthony North Hospital.

Quest Diagnostics expects the transaction to produce a broad range of benefits for customers, including improved quality, convenience and accessibility of laboratory services; expanded test development; and enhanced local testing capabilities for health care consumers.

Quest Diagnostics is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services with $3.4 billion in annual revenues. The company's diagnostic testing yields information that enables health care professionals and consumers to make better decisions to improve health. Quest Diagnostics offers patients and physicians the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its national network of approximately 30 full-service laboratories, 150 rapid response laboratories and more than 1,200 patient service centers, where specimens are collected. Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based testing, and is the leader in routine medical testing, drugs of abuse testing, and anatomic pathology testing. Through partnerships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and information technology companies, Quest Diagnostics provides support to help speed the development of health care insights and new therapeutics. Additional company information can be found on the Internet at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com.

The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are listed in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 1999 Form 10-K and subsequent filings. SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

CONTACT: Investors - Cathy Doherty, 201-393-5030, or Media - Gary Samuels, 201-393-5700, both for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated/