PharMerica Signs Five Year Contract With Beverly Enterprises

May 7, 2001

Using its nationwide network of long-term care pharmacies and common operating platform, PharMerica will provide medications, consulting, infusion therapy, and other complementary services to Beverly facilities across the country. With more than 500 skilled nursing care facilities around the nation, Beverly provides exceptional post-acute healthcare services to some 70,000 individuals daily.

"We are pleased to continue our relationship with one of the country's most prestigious providers of long-term care," said Charles J. Carpenter, PharMerica President and CEO. "PharMerica and Beverly have an excellent relationship built on a solid foundation of trust and respect. This agreement further demonstrates our joint commitment to improve service and outcomes by removing costs from the system, while elevating the quality of care for each of Beverly's residents."

Bobby Stephens, Executive Vice President of Beverly Enterprises, stated, "PharMerica has been, and will continue to be, our partner in every sense of the word. Working together, this partnership creates value by helping Beverly execute its vision of providing our residents with the best healthcare available."

Beverly Enterprises and its operating subsidiaries comprise a leading provider of healthcare services to the elderly in the United States. They operate 528 skilled nursing facilities (including 50 facilities in Florida), as well as 34 assisted living centers (4 centers in Florida), 58 home care and hospice agencies and 163 outpatient therapy clinics. Through Aegis Therapies, they also offer rehabilitative services on a contract basis to other providers' nursing homes.

With more than 20 years of experience providing quality pharmacy products and services and consulting to the long-term care, skilled nursing, assisted living and subacute care industries, PharMerica serves over 300,000 residents nationwide. In addition, PharMerica serves the needs of over 177,000 workers' compensation patients and the chronically ill through its PMSI division, a full-service mail order pharmacy specializing in the home delivery of medications, medical equipment, supplies and services.

PharMerica is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bergen Brunswig Corporation, headquartered in Orange County, California, a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals and specialty healthcare products as well as information management solutions and consulting services. Bergen's customers include the nation's healthcare providers (hospitals, nursing homes and physicians) drug stores, manufacturers and patients. Through its subsidiaries, Bergen provides product distribution, logistics, pharmacy management programs and Internet fulfillment strategies designed to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes across the entire healthcare spectrum.

Except for historical information, all other information set forth in this press release, such as earnings forecasts and earnings rate projections, consists of "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These "forward-looking statements" are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied. Such statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "think," "continue" or the negatives or other variations thereof or other similar terminology. Such risks and uncertainties include the risks described in exhibit 99(a) to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1999 and in other reports and exhibits filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the costs and difficulties related to the integration of acquired businesses, the loss or disruption of one or more key customer or supplier relationships, changes in the distribution outsourcing pattern for pharmaceutical products and/or services, the ability to obtain general financing or financing rates that would be compatible with the Company's business operations, and the costs and other effects of governmental regulation and legal and administrative proceedings. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in the release.

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