CVMC Added to WellPath August 5, 2003 Catawba Valley Medical Center Added to WellPath Participating Provider Network Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) and WellPath Select, Inc. (WellPath) have reached an agreement that adds CVMC to WellPath’s participating provider networks beginning August 1, 2003. “Choice is important to everyone, “ said CVMC President & CEO J. Anthony Rose. “This new relationship with Wellpath is another step toward assuring that Catawba Valley citizens are able to choose their healthcare partners without paying additional, out-of-network charges. We are certainly pleased to begin this new relationship with WellPath and look forward to the opportunity to serve those who are covered by this plan.” “The addition of Catawba Valley Medical Center to WellPath’s networks is a crucial step in WellPath’s efforts to revamp its presence in the Hickory area,” said Tracy Baker, WellPath’s Chief Executive Officer. “Catawba Valley Medical Center and WellPath share the goal of making quality health care affordable to this community, so WellPath’s new relationship with Catawba Valley Medical Center is an excellent match.” WellPath is a leading health plan in North and South Carolina providing coverage to over 115,000 members. WellPath is a subsidiary of Coventry Health Care, Inc, (Coventry) based in Bethesda, MD. Coventry operates health plans and insurance companies that provide a full range of managed care products and services including HMO, PPO, POS, Medicare+Choice and Medicaid to 2.9 million members in employer and government-funded groups throughout the Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and Southeast United States. More information is available on the internet at www.cvty.com. Catawba Valley Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare system providing and promoting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being of the public in addition to serving as a center for health education, wellness services, preventative medicine and acute care. The medical center is designated as the thirty-second Magnet facility in the nation and the second in the Carolinas for nursing excellence.