Baptist Health Launches New Homeownership Benefit for Employees

Jacksonville, Fla., June 21, 2005 - Baptist Health today announced a new employer-assisted housing (EAH) benefit designed to help employees achieve homeownership and recruit and retain talented healthcare workers. The EAH benefit will be available to all employees at Baptist Health. In coordination with the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida, Fresh Ministries, Inc., Wachovia, and Bank of America, Baptist Health will offer direct financial assistance of up to $6,000 to all full-time, eligible employees toward down payment and/or closing costs for the purchase of a home.

"Our hardworking and talented workforce enables Baptist Health to provide the highest quality care to the communities we serve. Offering a homeownership benefit will allow us to reward our valued employees and recruit the best individuals in health care to join our team," said A. Hugh Greene, Baptist Health president and chief executive officer. Greene added that all benefits eligible employees will be eligible to receive free homeownership education and counseling provided through the Housing Partnership of Northeast Florida, and full-time employees at manager-level or below, who are first-time home buyers and have one year of continuous service to Baptist Health, will be eligible for financial assistance.

Under the EAH initiative, Baptist Health will match $5 for every $1 contributed by eligible employees up to a $5,000 loan that is fully forgiven after five years of continuous full-time service. For employees purchasing a home in a community revitalization area designated by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Baptist Health will match $6 for every $1 contributed up to a $6,000 loan that is fully forgiven after five years of continuous full-time service. Wachovia and Bank of America will offer first mortgage loans in conjunction with the Baptist Health EAH initiative. All participating employees will be required to enroll in the home buyers education and counseling program offered by the Homeowership Center of the Housing Partnership for Northeast Florida, one of only 77 NeighborWorks® affiliated centers in the country.

In addition, full-time employees earning less than $38,700 for a household of four will be eligible to participate in the Individual Development Accounts (IDA) matching program administered by Fresh Ministries, an ecumenical, nonprofit organization based in Jacksonville. IDAs are dedicated, restricted savings accounts matched by public and private funds that can be used to purchase a first home. Income eligible employees may use up to $2,000 of the employer assistance funds as a dollar-for-dollar match with the IDA program. For example, an eligible employee who saves $2,000 of his or her own funds through the program will receive $2,000 in IDA funds and $5,000 in matching funds from Baptist Health giving the employee a total of $9,000 to apply toward down payment and closing costs.

"Our new EAH initiative is a winning proposal for our employees and the Northeast Florida neighborhoods where they will invest in homeownership, put down roots and raise their families," said John Wilbanks, Baptist Health's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "It is also an outstanding recruitment and retention tool as the health care industry continues to face a workforce shortage."

Fannie Mae assisted Baptist Health with the design of the EAH plan. Fannie Mae provides technical assistance at no cost to employers that would like to develop customized EAH plans. Employers can choose from a variety of EAH benefit options including access to home-buying information or a financial benefit such as a loan or a grant to help fund down payments, closing costs or interest rate buy downs. In turn, EAH is a tool that employers can use to attract and retain qualified employees, revitalize neighborhoods and reduce employee commutes.