CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Riverside Health System of Newport News, Virginia has received Premier, Inc.'s (Nasdaq:PINC) 2015 Richard A. Norling Premier Alliance Excellence Award for its commitment to transforming healthcare.

The annual award, named in honor of Premier's CEO from 1997 to 2009, recognizes a Premier member that is a leader in leveraging the collaborative power of the alliance to drive higher-quality, safer and more cost-effective healthcare. Riverside is the sole winner among Premier's alliance of approximately 3,400 U.S. hospitals.

"Riverside is honored to be recognized by Premier for accelerating innovation in care delivery," said William B. Downey, president and CEO of Riverside. "So many alliance members are leaders in this area and we are thrilled to be among the best in driving healthcare excellence. Collaborating with Premier and its members, we become stronger and are able to accelerate the changes needed to our country's healthcare delivery system."

A regional integrated delivery network, Riverside has been recognized as one of the most wired health systems for the past 10 years. The health system provides local, affordable access to more than 550 physician specialists and 130 care locations, including eight hospitals.

"Riverside has demonstrated a consistent drive for excellence and superior performance," said Susan DeVore, Premier president and CEO. "Essential to the Premier alliance, they've helped other providers reach new standards of high-quality, cost-effective care. We're happy to present them such well-deserved recognition for their many accomplishments."

Since becoming a Premier member-owner more than five years ago, Riverside has saved more than $24 million by sharing data and best practices to improve care delivery. In 2014, Riverside won Premier's Supply Chain Excellence Award for achieving superior supply expense performance.

Riverside engages in healthcare improvement initiatives with Premier alliance members to improve quality and reduce costs, such as comparative effectiveness programs to reduce the cost of physician preference items, as well as data-driven collaboratives to set new standards of excellence in quality and population health management. In addition, health system representatives serve on Premier quality improvement, supply chain oversight and materials management committees to further lead alliance members in efforts to transform healthcare.

Riverside accepted the 2015 Richard A. Norling Premier Alliance Excellence Award on February 24, 2015, during Premier's annual Governance Education Conference. Previous award winners include Mercy  Health (Cincinnati), Texas Health Resources (Arlington, Texas), Banner Health (Phoenix), and Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (Marriottsville, Maryland).

About Riverside Health System

A regional leader in providing healthcare since 1915, Riverside Health System seeks to deliver care and services - as a team - by putting patients and residents at the center of all operations. Riverside delivers a variety of healthcare services and programs in the areas of prevention, acute care, aging-related services, rehabilitation, ambulatory care, diagnostic care, education, and home care. The Riverside Health System operates five acute care hospitals, a behavioral Health center, the only Long term acute care hospital on the peninsula and the largest freestanding physical rehabilitation hospital in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its extensive Medical Group includes more than 550 providers. Ambulatory centers bring diagnostic services, physical therapy, day surgery and other services to neighborhoods served by Riverside. The company employs more than 9,400 team members in offices throughout Eastern VA. We are known for our patient experience and pride ourselves on our mission statement - Caring for others as we would care for those we love. Riverside is a medical leader in the Mid-Atlantic area of Virginia. www.riversideonline.com

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement

company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,400 U.S. hospitals and

110,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data

and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and

other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower

cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient,

plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry,

collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that

reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about

transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier's news and

investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook,

LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Foursquare and Premier's blog for more

information about the company.