Allen Medical Systems Contact:
Erin Herbst, Marketing Manager, Allen Medical Systems
 978-266-4241, erin.herbst@hill-rom.com

Hill-Rom Corporate Media Relations Contact:
Lauren Green-Caldwell, Director, Corporate Communications & Public Relations
812-934-8692, lauren.green-caldwell@hill-rom.com

For Immediate Release

ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH
OF NEW ALLEN AMATECH OEM BUSINESS NAME

October 29, 2009 - ACTON, Mass. – Allen Medical Systems, a subsidiary of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., (NYSE: HRC), announced the launch of its new OEM (or Original Equipment Manufacturer) business brand today, Allen Amatech.

In 1985, Amatech Corporation was founded by Kip Van Steenberg in Acton, Massachusetts. Amatech merged with Allen Medical Systems from Ohio in 1998, and moved the Allen operations to Acton. Since that time, the company has been acquired by Hill-Rom and the division retained the Allen Medical Systems name, as the only division of Hill-Rom focused solely on the operating room environment. While Allen sells directly to the operating room staff, nurses, and surgeons, the OEM business retained the Amatech name for selling private label and custom designed products to OR table and medical device companies.

In late 2007, the North American division of the OEM business was set-up as a separate business unit within Allen. In the past two years, a new team of dedicated resources has worked to strengthen and grow the business. As the Allen business continues to grow, there is more awareness and equity associated with the Allen brand name in the operating room environment, and medical device space. Fred Newey, Director of OEM Business - North America, said his team took the decision to re-brand the business very seriously, and began the process with a customer research initiative.  They conducted surveys of the OEM customers and partners about the values and awareness of the various brand names and businesses.
“Our market surveys have confirmed for us that ‘Allen’ has the strongest brand awareness, and that it is brand we want to invest in going forward.  At the same time we value the importance of maintaining a tie to the Amatech brand, as it is familiar to many of our current customers, especially our table company partners,” said Newey. “We’re excited to launch the new branding, as it will enable us to leverage the strength of the Allen name, while still maintaining a tie to Amatech.”

Annie Dixon-Dunn, Director of OEM Business – International, said the Amatech brand has carried more equity in her region for the OEM business than the Allen brand. “Outside of North America, the Allen brand is renowned for producing quality products for the operating theatre, but it is primarily associated with our direct sale  business. Amatech is the brand name that has always been associated with our OEM business. As the North American business grows, and works with more global clients, some confusion has surfaced over the two brand names. My team is quite pleased with the decision to re-brand the OEM business consistently across regions, as it will strengthen the brand globally, and it will eliminate confusion over the two business names.”  As a result, the new name Allen Amatech name was selected to identify the OEM business to further strengthen and simplify communications to customers and business partners.

ABOUT ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.
Allen Medical Systems, a Hill-Rom company, is an industry leader in patient positioning.  Allen focuses on improving patient outcomes and caregiver safety, while enhancing our customers' efficiency. Allen provides innovative solutions to address customers’ most pressing needs by understanding the customers’ environment, the operating room. Whether Allen is developing a product to address patient positioning issues, or creating a system to protect the patient's skin during a long surgery, the company is committed to providing products of exceptional quality.

Allen Medical Systems...passionate about positioning.
http://www.allenmedical.com