JOINT VENTURE SUMMARY
MOUNT CARMEL & OHIOHEALTH
August 2003

COMTEX
Central Ohio Medical Textiles

Land & Buildings

Despite the inclement weather conditions in June and July in Columbus that included record levels of rainfall, and thunder and lightning storms with high winds, construction of COMTEX has continued, and remains on target. Erection of the pre-engineered building steel has been completed and roofing for the plant area is now complete. A power transformer has been set in place and temporary power to enable ongoing construction needs has been activated. The masonry wall along the western perimeter is complete and the loading dock area is currently being completed.

All building permits have been received from the City of Columbus including those covering water, sanitary sewer and electricity.

The picture below sets out the construction activity at the COMTEX site on July 24, 2003.

Click Image to Enlarge

Equipment

Various support equipment systems have now been selected and ordered for COMTEX including the office furniture and staff support areas. In addition, orders have been placed for the telephone system, the data system, computers, time clocks, security system and signage.

Website

Effective August 1st, 2003 the COMTEX webpage will be activated at www.comtexlaundry.com. The webpage will provide an ongoing update about the new laundry including constantly changing pictures of the construction progress. In addition, the webpage enables prospective employees to apply on-line and to contact principles of the laundry over the World Wide Web.

Budgeting & Finance

Finalizing of the COMTEX operating budget will take place over the next few months as the staff currently working within the two healthcare systems are selected to work at COMTEX. Several key components of the Laundry’s budget have been finalized over the summer including the provision of various liability and flood insurances. In addition, work has begun on arranging the purchase of natural gas for COMTEX, since this utility makes up a significant portion of operating costs.

A tender for transportation services is anticipated to be issued by COMTEX in early September for final selection by November. This service will include the entire dock-to-dock deliver of textiles from the plant to each of the anticipated eleven (11) hospitals and approximately one hundred (100) clinics.

The Customer Committee responsible for the standardization of textiles between the two systems continued to meet over the summer to specify and select textiles for the service. At present, the Committee is charged with selecting a new maternity gown for the system.

Staffing

The Human Recourses Committee continues to meet over the summer period to fine tune the series of meetings needed to inform OhioHealth and Mount Carmel staff of the employment opportunities available for Laundry textile workers at COMTEX. In addition, a Committee establishing the levels of benefits needed for the new Laundry continues to meet with their selected benefits broker, who will submit a request for proposal to the marketplace this month for COMTEX benefit plans. It is anticipated that the selection of benefits will be made in time for the September meeting of the COMTEX Board of Directors.

The COO, Myles Noel, continues to recruit senior manager for key positions in COMTEX and has announced the appointment of a Manager of Finance and Human Resources. Ms. Becky Davis, who will join the COMTEX team on September 1st, has been recruited from the Mount Carmel financial services group. Additional appointments of the Plant Manager, Manager of Engineering and Production Manager for the new Laundry are anticipated by October for a commencement of duties in the first quarter of 2004.

Urban Growth the development arm of the City of Columbus, will be holding a Franklinton Job Shop meeting this month to assist with staff recruitment for all of the employers in the West Edge Business Park where COMTEX is located. The aim of the City is to encourage employers to hire staff from the empowerment zones within the City and to encourage this practice, a ten year tax rebate is provided to these employers.