BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept 11, 2008 -- Hooper Holmes (AMEX:HH) today announced that Richard Whitbeck, Jr. has been appointed President of the Company's Portamedic division, the largest paramedical exam service in the life insurance industry, gathering health information to reduce underwriting risk, with wholly-owned branches and a network of thousands of examiners. He has also been elected an executive officer of Hooper Holmes, Inc.
Mr. Whitbeck has held senior executive positions in the insurance industry for more than 25 years. He has deep experience in the distribution of insurance products and services, including the management of broker organizations, as well as in operations, technology, and national sales.
Roy Bubbs, President and CEO of Hooper Holmes, commented, "Our insurance company customers expect Portamedic to set the standard for speed and accuracy and with Portamedic's vast network of medical professionals, finding the right person to lead this division was key. We believe that we have found that leader in Richard and we are excited about what he brings to Portamedic. We are confident that under Richard's leadership we will continue to see further improvements and growth."
Before joining Portamedic, Mr. Whitbeck was President of CJA & Associates, a national actuarial consulting and marketing firm that specializes in Health and Welfare Benefit Plans encompassing distribution, third party administration, reinsurance, and software. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, National Sales Manager, at AXA Equitable, Vice President of Marketing for MONY, Second Vice President, Sales Support, at John Hancock, and Director, Field Development and Automation at Aetna Life Insurance & Annuity Company. Earlier on in his career he held positions as Assistant Vice President of Field Services and Marketing Services at Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, as well as a Commercial Programmer at FDP Corporation. Mr. Whitbeck holds a Bachelors of Science from State University of New York at Binghamton and is also a Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, Fellow of the Life Office Management Association, and Registered Health Underwriter.
About Hooper Holmes
Hooper Holmes is the leader in collecting personal health data and transforming it into useful information, enabling customers to take actions that manage or reduce their risks and expenses. As the leading provider of risk assessment services for the insurance industry, Hooper Holmes provides insurers with the widest range of medical exam, data collection, laboratory testing and underwriting services in the industry.
With presence in over 250 markets and a network of thousands of examiners, Hooper Holmes can arrange a medical exam anywhere in the U.S. and deliver the results to its customers. Each year we arrange more medical exams than any other company and process 3.8 million specimens in our laboratory. We provide a complete service for wellness, disease management, and managed care companies. We also underwrite 300,000 cases annually and complete more than two million telephone interviews.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements are our ability to successfully implement our business strategy; uncertainty as to our working capital requirements over the next 12 to 24 months; our ability to maintain compliance with the financial covenants in our credit facility; our expectations regarding our operating cash flows; and the rate of life insurance application activity. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the Company's business is set forth in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2008. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.