News Releases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 29, 2009 — Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today it has reached agreement on a one-year contract renewal with Memorial Hospital, continuing a long-term relationship with the Jacksonville hospital.

Under the agreement, members of Aetna’s network-based plans will be able to receive covered in-patient and out-patient services, at in-network rates, from Memorial Hospital.

“Aetna is very happy to announce that Memorial Hospital will continue to be an important cog in our Jacksonville network,” said Tom Nasby, Aetna’s head of network operations for the North Florida market.  “This contract will strengthen our ability to continue offering our members access to a broad network of high-quality hospitals and physicians.”

Aetna provides health benefits to approximately 247,000 members in North Florida.  Those members have access to a contracted network of 16 hospitals and more than 3,000 primary-care and specialist physicians.

James B. Wood, president and CEO of Memorial Hospital, said the contract will allow thousands of Aetna patients in northeast Florida to continue utilizing Memorial Hospital as their hospital of choice.

“We are pleased to continue our relationship with Aetna at Memorial,” Wood said.  “We are committed to ensuring access to our high-quality physicians and services to Aetna members, and members of all health plans.”

About Memorial Hospital
Fully accredited by the Joint Commission on of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO,) Memorial Hospital is known as a leader in quality, compassionate health care with a reputation maintained through excellent staff, along with programs of technological advances, growth and expansion to meet the ongoing needs of the community.  Memorial Hospital serves the entire First Coast area. For further information about services, facilities and physicians, please go to www.MemorialHospitalJax.com

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care.  Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates.  For more information, see www.aetna.com and Aetna's Annual Report at www.aetna.com/2008annualreport.