RehabCare Elects Christopher Hjelm to Board of Directors

RehabCare Group, Inc. (NYSE: RHB) today announced that Christopher T. Hjelm has been elected to its Board of Directors. The current Chief Information Officer (CIO) for The Kroger Company, one of the nation’s largest retail grocery chains, Mr. Hjelm has more than 20 years of information technology (IT) leadership and strategic planning experience. "IT is a critical driver for many of our short- and long-range operational goals,” said John H. Short, Ph.D., RehabCare President and Chief Executive Officer. "To realize our vision of creating a post-acute continuum of care requires us to fully integrate our IT platforms across our various clinical settings, while continuing to pursue the latest innovations in point-of-service technology and patient tracking. Chris’s talent for building and leading high-performance technology infrastructures on a large scale will be a tremendous asset as we implement these objectives.” Dr. Short said Mr. Hjelm has been appointed to the Board’s Audit Committee. Prior to The Kroger Company, Mr. Hjelm held executive-level technology responsibilities for Cendant Corporation’s Travel Distribution division, Ebay, Inc. and the Federal Express Corporation. In his 14 years at Federal Express, Mr. Hjelm’s accomplishments included leading the reengineering of the company’s billing process and systems, standardizing and expanding its global technology services and products, and leading a worldwide organization of over 4,000 technology and service professionals. Also while with Federal Express, he was named one of the 100 Leaders for the Next Millennium by CIO Magazine in 1999. Mr. Hjelm holds an Honorary Ph.D. in Computer Science from Colorado Technical University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Colorado State University. "I’m both excited by a relationship with an enterprising industry leader such as RehabCare, as well as the opportunity to serve on a diverse and accomplished Board of Directors,” said Mr. Hjelm. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, RehabCare (www.rehabcare.com) is a leading national provider of physical rehabilitation services in conjunction with more than 1,300 hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company also owns and operates freestanding rehabilitation and long-term acute care hospitals across the country.