AzHHA Service Corporation-Universal Background Screening Announce Agreement Renewal

Phoenix, AZ - October 20, 2003 — The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) Service Corporation—a subsidiary of AzHHA, Arizona’s largest healthcare association—recently renewed its relationship with Universal Background Screening as part of its Preferred Vendor Program.

Founded more than 30 years ago, Universal Background Screening (formerly Arizona Drug Screening & Investigations) offers businesses pre-employment screening services.

“The AzHHA Service Corporation’s Preferred Vendor Program allows members to offer their employees high-quality products and services at a competitive rate,” said Lynn Bruchhof, AzHHA’s chief operating officer. “Our continued affiliation with Universal Background Screening is extremely important because it provides hospitals a powerful tool in the pre-employment selection process.”

That tool, according to Bruchhof, is information. With the exclusive partnership, AzHHA’s 102 member organizations have access to Universal Background Screening’s menu of employment screening services. Those services include verification of employment, along with education and reference information provided by potential new employees or employees slated for promotion. Additionally, under the agreement, AzHHA hospitals and health systems may tap other services, such as licensure verification, financial responsibility information and Federal exclusions lists.

“Universal Background Screening is proud of the relationships we have built with the AzHHA Service Corporation team and member hospitals over the past eight years,” said Richard Geisel-Churchill, chief executive officer of Universal Background Screening. “We look forward to this renewed partnership that will increase certainty in the employment process of healthcare organizations throughout the state of Arizona.”

For more information about the AzHHA-Universal Background Screening preferred vendor agreement, contact Lynn Bruchhof at 602-445-4300 or visit AzHHA’s Web site at www.azhha.org. Additional information about Universal Background Screening is available at www.universalbackground.com.