June 21, 2007 Orange, CA – The Gallup Organization awarded St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) one of its highest honors – the 2007 Great Workplace Award. St. Joseph Health System is among only a dozen organizations worldwide to receive this award. The Gallup “Great Workplace Awards” are based on the most rigorous workplace research ever conducted. A panel of workplace experts selected the 12 award-winning organizations. St. Joseph Health System is among the winners because its results demonstrate SJHS has one of the most productive and engaged workplaces in the world.

“Studying more than 10 million employees worldwide allowed us to set an extraordinarily high bar for this award,” said Tom Rath, who leads Gallup’s Workplace and Leadership Consulting practice. “The winners have gone far beyond just offering nice perks and benefits. They have created an environment that truly engages people every day throughout the organization.”

The 12 organizations winning the 2007 Gallup Great Workplace Awards stand apart from all others for their ability to create an engaged workplace.

“To say we are honored to receive this award is an understatement,” said Deborah Proctor, president and CEO of St. Joseph Health System. “The credit goes to our employees for their commitment to our mission, vision and values. At St. Joseph Health System we value all of our employees and the personal contributions each of them makes to our organization. We believe a fully engaged workplace must be an environment where our employees know they have a voice and that when they speak, we are listening.”

St. Joseph Health System is an integrated healthcare delivery organization sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. There are more than 20,000 valued employees of St. Joseph Health System. In California, the St. Joseph’s Health System includes: St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, St. Jude Heritage Healthcare, St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka and Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna. In addition, SJHS operates the Covenant Health System in eastern New Mexico and Texas and St. Joseph Home Care facilities throughout the communities it serves.

The Gallup Great Workplace Awards recognize the best performing workforces in the world. Applicants’ results are compared across a workplace research database comprised of millions of work teams in more than 100 countries. A panel of workplace experts assesses the applicants’ results to select winners.