FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEADING SEARCH FIRMS TO PARTNER

CHICAGO,  IL;  July 4, 2008—Two of the nation’s leading healthcare executive search firms,  CES Partners Ltd. and Hersher Associates Ltd., have formed a strategic alliance that will broaden the scope of recruiting assignments each of the firms conducts and the types of positions they place. Under the alliance, the two organizations will remain separate entities and continue conducting executive recruitment under their own established brands, but they will partner and cooperate on select search assignments, sharing team resources to improve the service they extend to their healthcare client organizations.

The firms are both listed among the top healthcare search firms by Modern Healthcare magazine and both are led by credentialed veterans who have served in healthcare for more than a quarter century. They announce their alliance as CES Partners continues to climb in rank among the leaders in healthcare search and continues to broaden the range of searches it conducts – from a core of recruiting senior executives for provider organizations.

Hersher Associates looks to the alliance to maintain its strength in traditional base of recruiting with an emphasis on information technology positions while its founder and CEO Betsy Hersher seeks to spend more time coaching organizations and individuals for the next generation of healthcare CIOs. The company will continue to recruit and place candidates, but it will count on CES Partners to help accommodate its assignments, to make Betsy more available to address what she calls a looming crisis – a shortage of qualified CIOs that’s equally or more severe than other shortages of other specialized staff in healthcare, such as Registered Nurses.

The alliance is expected to increase the market share and broaden the scope of positions for search assignments for both consultancies. Operating since 1980, Hersher Associates has placed hundreds of health executives with an emphasis on the recruitment of information systems and technology executives, including Chief Information Officers and Chief Medical Information Officers. Founded in 2001, CES Partners has extensive experience recruiting a broad range of C-Level executives, directors, and administrators for hospitals, health systems, and senior services organizations. Its placements have included a broad range of clinical, patient care and service line directors and administrators. However, CES Partners’ strength has been recruiting of CEOs, COOs and other members of the senior executive teams for provider organizations. Its work has included extensive consulting and development of succession planning.

"Our cooperative partnership will serve to intensify the already strong presence that both our firms have built in the healthcare industry, and should demonstrate to our clients the sincere efforts our teams are making to sustain and enhance our delivery of the highest quality, professional services for years to come," says CES Partners' President and CEO Barry Cesafsky. Cesafsky adds that the collaboration, without a formal merger, will permit each company to continue to provide "big firm" service for their increasingly sophisticated healthcare clients, while remaining small enough to conduct searches with a personal touch and placing high value on relationship.

"Both our firms enjoy solid reputations among our clients – as evidenced by long-term relationships and scores of repeat assignments from our clients," Cesafsky says. "More important, this alliance should help provide confidence in health care systems that professional search with a personal touch will remain available to them. Whether they’re looking for a CEO, a Senior VP of Operations, a Chief Nursing Executive, or a Chief Information Officer, they can now approach CES Partners or Hersher Associates to help them locate, secure and retain the talent and vision they need to move their organizations forward."

Hersher Associates and CES Partners will continue operating from their home offices in the Chicago area, Hersher in Northbrook and CES Partners in Chicago's south Loop. The firms employ consultants in many satellite locations, to support client needs for a wide range of regional and national searches.

"As recruiting consultants, our firms are often called upon to recommend and develop definitive paths for succession planning for large health systems and hospitals," says Betsy Hersher. "Having a vision for the future is just as vital in executive search organizations."

Hersher adds that her firm and CES Partners pursued the initiative in order to ensure that they "can sustain the caliber of client support and industry knowledge" to which their clients have grown accustomed. According to Hersher, these assets include compensation surveys, executive databases, and in-depth knowledge base about human resources issues in healthcare.

About CES Partners

CES Partners is a leading national boutique executive search firm that has been serving hospitals, health systems and the senior services industry since its founding in 2001. In the years since its inception, CES Partners has grown to become a recognized leader and now ranks in the top 25 largest retained search firms in healthcare, as published by Modern Healthcare magazine. Despite its growth in annual volume, CES Partners sustains its boutique character by employing a highly personalized and professional approach with our clients, many who work with CES Partners time and time again. Additional information about CES Partners can be found by visiting their web site at: www.cespartners.net.

About Hersher Associates

Hersher Associates Ltd., founded in 1980, is a nationally recognized leader in retained executive search in healthcare with an emphasis on recruitment of information systems and technology executives, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Medical Information Officers and key directors and managers. Hersher has a reputation for operating with the highest professional standards and developing strong partnerships with clients, helping forge an outstanding track record for delivering and ensuring candidate compatibility with each client's corporate culture and mission. More information can be found at www.hersher.com.

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