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/