Community Health Systems Inc.

Michael T. Portacci manages hospitals in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas. He joined CHS in 1988 as a hospital CEO, was promoted to Group Director with oversight for multiple facilities in 1991, was again promoted in 1994 to Vice President, and in 2001 was named Senior Vice President of Group Operations. Prior to joining CHS, Portacci had 25 years of hospital experience in CFO and CEO positions.

Bill Hussey manages hospitals in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. His healthcare career spans more than 20 years at the executive management level. Before joining CHS in June 2001, Hussey was President and CEO of Gulfside Medical Development. He has served as CEO in numerous hospitals, and was Senior Vice President of the Hospital Division for Basic American Medical in Ft. Myers, Florida. Hussey earned his bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and his master's in hospital administration from Tulane University. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and he serves on the Board of Governors of the Federation of American Hospitals.

Barbara R. Paul, M.D., works to further improve the company’s relationships with affiliated physicians. She joined the company in August 2006. Paul is a board certified internist and spent 12 years in full-time practice in northern California before joining the Medicare program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). While there, she directed the Physicians’ Regulatory Issues Team, and attacked and changed a number of policies that were excessively burdensome for practicing physicians. She was also instrumental in developing Medicare’s first “pay for quality” demonstrations and the Hospital Quality Alliance. Prior to joining CHS, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Beverly Enterprises, Inc., a provider of nursing home, hospice and rehabilitative services to the elderly. Paul is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and received her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine.

Debbie Landers is responsible for standardizing and building the marketing needs for CHS hospitals, including advertising, public relations, communications, customer service and Web services. She also has leadership responsibilities for two affinity programs: Senior Circle and Healthy Woman. Landers joined the company in 2003 as Assistant Vice President of Senior Circle and was promoted to her current role in 2004. With over 20 years of healthcare marketing experience, Landers has worked for Humana, Inc., Galen/Columbia, Jewish Hospital in Louisville, and St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. She holds a master’s in business administration from Bellarmine University and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University School of Journalism. Landers is a member of the Federation of American Hospitals public relations committee, the executive advisory board of Bellarmine University Rubel School of Business and the United Way board for Williamson County, TN.

J. Gary Seay joined CHS in February 1997. He has more than 25 years of experience developing and delivering systems and business process solutions in the healthcare industry. Previously, he served as Vice President of Managed Care Systems for EQUICOR from 1987 to 1990; Vice President at CIGNA Systems from 1990 to 1993; and Director of Information Systems at Humana, Inc., from 1985 to 1987 and from 1993 to mid-1996. Seay serves on the United Way of Williamson County Board of Directors and the Tennessee HIMSS CIO Advisory Council.

Mark Buford, CPA, has served as the company's Corporate Controller since 1986 and as its Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since 1988.

Tim G. Marlette is responsible for managing the supply and equipment purchasing for the company, as well as overseeing vendor contracts and Group Purchasing relationships. Marlette joined CHS in July 1998. He has over 26 years of healthcare experience including various positions with Humana, Inc. and Columbia/HCA. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting/economics from McKendree College in Illinois.

In 1997, Larry Cash was recruited as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Community Healthy Systems, Inc. With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, Mr. Cash formerly held senior-level financial positions at Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, Humana, Inc. and Price Waterhouse Coopers. He is a member of Community Health Systems, Inc.'s Board of Directors. Mr. Cash currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. and on its audit (chair) and compensation committees. He also is a member of the Nashville Healthcare Council.

James W. Doucette joined CHS as treasurer in 2000. He previously served as Vice President of Investments and Treasurer for Humana, Inc. Doucette has more than 30 years of financial experience since receiving his bachelor’s in commerce with honors in finance from the University of Louisville and his master’s in business administration from Wharton. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds professional affiliations with the Association for Investment Management and Research, the Association for Financial Professionals, and the American Philatelic Society.

Jerry A. Weissman manages a staff of over 20 people. He joined CHS in December 1993. He has more than 20 years of physician recruiting/management experience including an association with Charter Medical Corporation and several years with a major physician recruiting search firm. He is an active member of the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters.

Kathie G. Thomas joined CHS in 1999. While with the company, she has managed Home Health and provided operational support for Emergency Services, Surgical Services and Cardiovascular Services, and served as Vice President of Clinical Operations. She has over 20 years of healthcare management and consulting experience, including three years with Ernst & Young as a manager in their Southeast Healthcare Consulting Practice and several years with Columbia/HCA as Divisional Vice President for Home Health. Thomas also served as Vice President of Operations for Coram Healthcare. She received a nursing degree from Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina; a management degree from the University of North Carolina, graduating summa cum laude; and, a master's in business administration from Emory University's Goizueta Business School.

Larry M. Carlton joined the company 1997. During his 30 years of healthcare experience, Carlton has served as the Director of Government Programs at OrNda HealthCorp/Tenet; Director of Reimbursement at Homecare and Hospital Management, Inc.; Director of Health Financing with Humana, Inc., Galen, Inc., and Columbia/HCA; and also spent eight years in public accounting. He has served on the board of directors and as chair of the Legislative Committee and Rural Committee of the Federation of American Hospitals and represents CHS in lobbying efforts through the Rural Hospital Coalition. Carlton is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Lizbeth Schuler joined CHS in 1999 as Finance Director and was promoted to Assistant Vice President of Investor Relations shortly after the company went public in 2000. She was promoted to Vice President in 2005. Prior to joining CHS, Schuler spent 20 years with Humana in varying positions in finance and accounting. She received both her undergraduate degree in accounting and a master’s in business administration from the University of Louisville.

Bob Horrar joined CHS in 1998, bringing 25 years of experience in human resources management and recruiting to the company. Formerly, he was Vice President, Administration, with Humana, Inc., with responsibilities that included leadership and organizational development, compensation, benefits, training and development, affirmative action and all recruiting needs. He holds a degree in management and finance from the University of Louisville where he later earned his master's in business administration with honors.

Array

Tish is human resources director for Community Health Systems, a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in non-urban markets throughout the United States. She can be reached at 615-465-8520.

Carolyn S. Lipp joined the company in June 1998 as Vice President of Quality and Resource Management and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2001. Formerly, she was Vice President of Quality and Resource Management with Columbia/HCA for four years with responsibility for case and resource management, quality, regulatory compliance and outcomes for 55 hospitals. Lipp’s healthcare background also includes eight years with Humana as Director of Utilization and Quality for the managed care plans and the South Florida hospitals. She has served as a consultant on medical cost reduction and quality improvement to the Surgeon General's Office of the U.S. Armed Forces and to the government of Kuwait.

Dr. Jean Ann Seago is Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Systems, UCSF School of Nursing. She has also been the Director, Nursing Administration, since 1997. Prior to that she was Assistant Administrator of the Medical Center/Director of Nursing at Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Martinez. She was also Assistant Director of Nursing for Adult Critical Care at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and has served as Nurse Manager for a Surgical/Trauma Intensive care Unit, Intensive Thoracic Care Units, Coronary Care Units, and a general Intensive Care Unit. She serves as consultant to the Nurse Manager Institute at the Center for the Health Professions. Dr. Seago s doctoral and postdoctoral work was at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing, while her undergraduate work was at San Jose State University and master s work at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on understanding how nursing systems and other organizational systems in acute care hospitals impact patient outcomes and nurse workforce outcomes. A specific interest is to explain how nursing units in acute care hospitals can create systems to improve both patient outcomes and nurse workforce outcomes. Her recent work centers on the effect of environmental changes on acute care patient outcomes, specifically the role of RN unions in hospitals, the workload of nurse managers and nurses in hospitals, the nursing shortage, the California nurse to patient ratios, and the educational process for Registered Nurse and Licensed Vocational Nurses.

Kenneth D. Hawkins joined CHS in 1997 as Vice President of Acquisitions and Development. Formerly, he was Vice President of Development at Champion Healthcare and CFO of Amerihealth, Inc., later acquired by Champion. Hawkins has more than 20 years of healthcare experience and more than 30 years of financial experience. A CPA, Hawkins has an extensive background in hospital acquisitions, development and finance.

Since Wayne Smith’s arrival in 1997, CHS has grown from $742 million in net revenue to over $10.8 billion in 2008 net revenue. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 28 percent— the strongest record of revenue growth in the industry. For the last six years, Mr. Smith has been selected by the readers of Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare". When Mr. Smith was recruited as Community Health Systems, Inc.'s president and CEO, he brought more than 20 years of healthcare industry experience to the company. He was named Chairman of the Board of Community Health Systems, Inc. in February 2001. Prior to joining CHS, Smith was with Humana, Inc. for 23 years where held a variety of senior management positions including president and Chief Operating Officer. He also was a member of Humana, Inc.'s Board of Directors from 1993 to mid-1996. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Praxair, Inc., Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, the Nashville Healthcare Council (2006 & 2007 Chairman) and the Federation of American Hospitals (2003 Chairman). Before joining Humana in 1973, Smith spent four years as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Services Corps. Mr. Smith holds both a bachelor of science and Master of Science from Auburn University and a master of science in healthcare administration from Trinity University. He studied at the King's Fund College of Hospital Administration in London, England.

Former President, Sigma Group of America (a consulting company) from 1992 to 2005. Mr. Watson was President & Chief Executive Officer of ROLM Company (a telecommunications joint venture of IBM and Siemens AG) from 1989 to 1992. Prior to that, he served as Vice President, Marketing for IBM. Mr. Watson also is a director of Community Health Systems, Inc., chairman-emeritus of Helen Keller International, and chairman of the Brevard Music Center.

Mr. Clerico is a registered investment advisor and is the Chairman of Chartmark Investments, Inc., a company he founded in 2001. From 1992 until his retirement in 2000, Mr. Clerico served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Praxair, Inc., where he also had responsibility for business operations in Europe and South America. From 1984 to 1992, Mr. Clerico served as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Union Carbide Corporation. Mr. Clerico serves on the Board of Directors of Community Health Systems, Inc. and the Educational Development Corporation. Mr. Clerico received a BS degree in Finance from Oklahoma State University.

Rachel A. Seifert is responsible for the legal aspects of a variety of areas within the company, including acquisitions/development, SEC and corporate governance, and litigation and management of the legal department. Prior to joining CHS in 1998, Seifert was with Columbia/HCA where she served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel since 1992. Previously, she spent seven years in private law practice in Dallas, Texas. Seifert received her law degree in 1985 and bachelor’s degree in 1981 from the University of Maryland.

William Norris Jennings, M.D. was elected to our Board of Directors in May 2008. Dr. Jennings is a practicing family medicine physician employed by The Physician Group, which is affiliated with Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky. From 1971 until 2005, when the practice was acquired by Jewish Hospital, Dr. Jennings was in private practice with Southend Medical Clinic, PSC, serving as its managing partner.