FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2002

HHC to earn more than $18 million in funds for public health care programs through ten-year exclusive concession agreement with Pepsi Cola and CCVending

On July 19, 2002 New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) will officially announce a ten-year exclusive concession agreement with Pepsi Cola and CCVending, a New York based vending operator to provide all of HHC's soda, juice and snack vending requirements. The agreement, which is consistent with the City's public/private partnership initiatives, will earn more than $18 million in funds for HHC's public health care programs. Funds generated by this agreement will be used for patient care, community health education and special public health care initiatives, such as the HHC Asthma Vans.

"This agreement represents HHC's first significant exclusive long-term public/private partnership arrangement," said HHC President Dr. Benjamin Chu. "With budgets tightening, HHC must find creative ways to not only continue operating our health care services and community programs, but also to enhance them. This exclusive agreement with Pepsi allows HHC to bring in additional revenue to support these programs for the community."

"The most satisfying part of this partnership to me is that HHC utilized an entrepreneurial strategy in a quasi-governmental setting to implement this plan," said Frank Cirillo, Senior Vice President of Operations at HHC. "We are delivering a service to our patients, visitors and staff and reaping a large revenue increase that we can invest into health care programs for our patients and the communities we serve. We look forward to doing more of these public/private partnerships---everybody benefits."

The $18 million represents a four-fold increase over the annual income that HHC facilities have derived from previous non-exclusive arrangements with multiple vendors. This partnership will also require the vendor to provide healthy snacks, fruit juices and purified water. In addition to providing HHC with vending income, the contract includes a commitment from Pepsi, with the assistance of the Public Enterprise Group, a marketing and promotions firm, to enter into joint initiatives for men's, women's and children's health care programs and fund-raising activities for the benefit of HHC, its patients and the communities of the City of New York.

"We are proud to be the launching pad for this historic venture between the public and private sector," said Carlos Perez, Senior Vice President of HHC's South Manhattan Healthcare Network and Executive Director of Bellevue Hospital, where the first HHC Pepsi vending machine will be formally unveiled on July 19th. The new high visibility vending machines, which have been designed with an interactive screen and other features that assure user satisfaction, will be distributed by Pepsi throughout HHC facilities. "This partnership will help us to continue our mission of providing high quality health care to our patients regardless of their ability to pay," said Mr. Perez.