SAN FRANCISCO--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 22, 1999--McKesson HBOC, Inc., (NYSE:MCK) (McKessonHBOC) announced today that it has selected five employees for a dedicated cross-functional Affiliation Team that will spearhead the execution of strategic initiatives for product pull-through and development of products and services across McKessonHBOC's businesses.

    This two-year effort to capture additional value from the McKessonHBOC merger has a goal to deliver $200 million in pre-tax income through revenue and expense synergies achieved by pull-through of existing products to current customers and cost-savings through efficiencies, better facilities utilization, standardization of practices and contract leverage.

    Also, team members will lead efforts to integrate products, to broaden and enhance existing capabilities, take to market integrated product solutions and launch McKessonHBOC's capability for new product development.

    The Affiliation Team, led by David A. Schenk, senior vice president of McKessonHBOC, consists of Monika H. Brown, Rick Hall, Sandra Schafer, Aldo Zini and Kathy Zirker-Smith.

    "Each team member brings extensive knowledge of both the organization and the needs of McKessonHBOC's customers, and will together provide a strong base of experience in both supply management and information technology," said Schenk.

    "Each team member has been a high performer throughout his or her career and thus brings both personal and professional momentum to the challenge and opportunity we have. Working together over the next two years, we will lead work groups throughout the company to execute strategic plans designed to create value for our customers, suppliers, stockholders and employees and accelerate the company's growth."

    Monika Brown joined HBOC in 1985. Before joining the Affiliation Team, she was director of investor relations for HBOC, with responsibility for all external financial and strategic communications with the investment community. Monika's previous responsibilities included managing HBOC's internal financial planning, including budgets, forecasts, performance measurements and strategic business planning. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance from Ohio State University.

    Rick Hall joined McKesson General Medical in 1985 as a district manager. Since 1997, he has been president, Acute Care, the business focused on medical-surgical supply management solutions for hospitals and integrated health networks. He played a key role in negotiating and then implementing major distribution agreements with VHA and Columbia/HCA.

    Previously, Rick worked in pharmaceutical distribution with McKesson Health Systems. Rick has a bachelor's of science degree in healthcare administration from Pennsylvania State University and has served actively on numerous healthcare industry committees and boards.

    Sandra Schafer joined HBOC with its acquisition of Amherst Associates in 1985. Prior to joining the Affiliation Team, Sandra was vice president of marketing for the physician market. In this position, she was responsible for positioning and information systems solutions designed to meet all requirements of physician practices.

    Schafer previously held leadership positions in the areas of business partner development, sales operations and sales support. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Iowa and a master's degree in hospital and health administration.

    Aldo Zini joined McKesson's Automated Healthcare business in 1991 as vice president, sales and marketing. In mid-1997, Zini moved to his present position as senior vice president of Marketing and Strategic Business Services for the Health Systems pharmaceutical supply management business.

    Prior to joining Automated Healthcare, Zini was executive director of Technology and Marketing Research for Gerber Alley Corporation, which is now a part of McKessonHBOC's Information Technology Business. He also worked in healthcare management consulting. He has a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's degree in Health Systems Management from Carnegie-Mellon University.

    Kathy Zirker-Smith has been with McKesson's Corporate Planning Department since 1995, most recently as vice president, Strategic Planning and Corporate Initiatives. Zirker-Smith has played a key role in numerous mergers and acquisitions, in post-merger affiliation and strategy development at McKesson General Medical, and in the design and launch of the Select Generics program for retail pharmacies.

    She came to McKesson from Kaiser Permanente, where she managed the Strategic Projects Group, and earlier was a consultant at APM, a healthcare consulting firm. Zirker-Smith has a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas, a graduate degree in International Business Policy from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

    McKesson HBOC, Inc., a Fortune 100 corporation, is the world's largest healthcare services company. McKessonHBOC provides pharmaceutical supply management and information technologies across the entire continuum of healthcare, including market-leading businesses in pharmaceutical and medical-surgical distribution, information technology for healthcare providers, services for payors and outsourcing. More information about McKessonHBOC is available on our World Wide Website at: www.mckhboc.com.

    Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "may," "should," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" and similar words. Risks and uncertainties include the speed of integration of acquired businesses, the impact of continued competitive pressures, success of strategic initiatives, implementation of new technologies, continued industry consolidation, changes in customer mix, changes in pharmaceutical manufacturers' pricing and distribution policy, the changing U.S. health care environment and other factors discussed from time to time in reports filed by McKesson HBOC, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update information contained in this release.

    McKessonHBOC news releases are available at no charge through McKessonHBOC's NewsOnDemand fax service. To immediately receive an index of available releases, call 1-800-344-6495 and press 2.

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     CONTACT:  McKesson HBOC, Inc.,
               Larry Kurtz, 415/983-8418 (Media)
                    or
               Janet Bley, 415/983-9357 (Investors)
               Beth Dalton, 770/393-6587 (Investors)

     KEYWORD:  CALIFORNIA
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD:  MEDICINE PHARMACEUTICAL MANAGEMENT CHANGES