The following memo from Chip Koval, attorney for Memorial Hospital - West Volusia, Inc., was to be posted immediately for employees. It is intended to explain why employee pension contributions weren't paid into the plan timely.

MEMORIAL

HEALTH SYSTEMS

A great deal of concern is rightfully being expressed by employees regarding the status of the pension deferrals they have made from their paychecks. The new VALIC mutual fund program allows employees to access their account balances and track the investments that they have made. Employees have noted that as of this date they have been unable to confirm that the deferrals that have been made since the start of the calendar year have been deposited into their accounts.

As of February 21, 2000, VALIC acknowledged receipt of all deferrals associated with the first three pay periods since the new year. The interest that would have been earned on those deposits had they been made in connection with each payroll period will be deposited in each employee's account as required by federal pension rules and regulations. The exact timing of these deposits, and the manner in which they will be made is still being worked out with VALIC.

Deposits for all subsequent payroll periods will be made in accordance with federal pension rules and regulations. Because of the complexities involved in the processing of the large number of employee accounts there was no reasonable way to avoid the delays that have occurred. The new VALIC program is a significant improvement over the previous plan in that it provides a much broader range of investment options at a significantly lower cost. A great deal of time and effort went into the plan design, and we regret the delays in implementation.

Please also note that deposits that have been made will not be reflected on the VALIC web site that historically could be accessed. The web site to be used to track accounts under the new mutual fund program is www.AGRSRetireNet.com. Telephone access to these accounts can be made by calling 1-888-568-2542. If you have any questions please contact Human Resources.

notes, not included in original memo

The formatting of the document may differ slightly from the original paper memo, due to variations in browser settings. The original text is unchanged.

The intention of the memo is of course to avoid the question of why pension fund payments were not made timely. You may have two guesses.

The memo reports three pay periods deposit made as of a date in which four pay periods should have elapsed. What happened to the money for the fourth pay period?

Posting of this material is a paid political advertisement provided by Tanner Andrews, P.O. Box 1208, DeLand 32721, independent of any campaign or committee. The memo is also on display at the offices of the West Volusia Hospital Authority. No candidate has approved this material.