CONTACT: Laura Gordon 202-326-1775 laura.gordon@edelman.

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Edelman Appoints Cathy Barry-Ipema as Senior Vice President in its Washington, D.C. Health Practice
August 30, 2012, WASHINGTON, DC -- Edelman, the worlds largest public relations firm, announced today that Cathy Barry-Ipema has joined its Washington, D.C., Health practice as a senior vice president. Barry-Ipema comes to Edelman after 19 years at The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO), which accredits and certifies more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Barry-Ipema will report to Laura Gordon, general manager of Edelmans Health practice in Washington, D.C. Cathys deep passion and understanding of the needs of health care organizations, with a special focus on the areas of quality and safety, will be of great value to our clients, said Gordon. With implementation of health reform in full swing, Cathy is joining us at the perfect time as we work with our clients to navigate the post-reform frontier. I am thrilled to be joining Edelmans Health practice. Working with a group of practitioners who have such a keen understanding of the challenges facing health care organizations today is exciting, said Barry-Ipema. After more than 30 years of working on the provider side, this is the perfect next step in my professional journey. As The Joint Commissions chief communications officer, Barry-Ipema was responsible for media relations, publications, public relations campaigns, issues management, web-based communications, multi-media projects and the speakers bureau. In addition, she developed and led all efforts surrounding The Joint Commissions award-winning Speak Up patient-safety initiative. With 30 years of experience in the hospital and health system sector, Cathy brings extraordinary credentials to help build business in that sector, as well as in other industries for which an understanding of the health-system perspective is critical, said Kym White, global practice chair, Health. Prior to joining The Joint Commission, Barry-Ipema was director of public relations for Lutheran General Health System in Park Ridge, Il., and previously was director of public relations for Grant Hospital of Chicago. She has long been involved with the Public Relations Society of America and the Publicity Club of Chicago, and hosted a statewide weekly cable show in Illinois, At Issue Today, for more than 10 years, for which she interviewed legislators and opinion leaders on various legislative issues. She will continue to live in Chicago.

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About Edelman Edelman is the worlds largest public relations firm, with 65 offices and more than 4,500 employees worldwide, as well as affiliates in more than 30 cities. Edelman was named Advertising Ages top-ranked PR firm of the decade in 2009 and one of its A-List Agencies in both 2010 and 2011; Adweeks 2011 PR Agency of the Year; PRWeeks 2011 Large PR Agency of the Year; and The Holmes Reports 2011 Global Agency of the Year and its 2011 North American Large Agency of the Year. Edelman was named one of the Best Places to Work by Advertising Age in 2010 and 2012 and among Glassdoors top five 2011 Best Places to Work. Edelman owns specialty firms Blue (advertising), A&R Edelman (technology), DJE Science (medical education and biotech), and agencies Edelman Significa (Brazil), and Pegasus (China). Visit http://www.edelman.com for more information.

www.edelman.com A Daniel J Edelman Company