Amedisys Names Patrick Thompson as New Executive Vice President of Administration and Chief Information Officer

Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED), one of America's leading home care and hospice companies, announced today that G. Patrick Thompson, Jr., formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of The Shaw Group, has joined Amedisys as the Company’s new Executive Vice President of Administration and Chief Information Officer (CIO).

"Patrick is an experienced, effective leader and is going to be an excellent addition to our senior executive team,” stated William F. Borne, Amedisys Chief Executive Officer. "His expertise in IT and administration aligns completely with Amedisys’ commitment to quality by improving efficiencies through technology and innovation.”

Mr. Thompson has more than 23 years of experience in streamlining business processes and improving operational efficiencies, most recently as the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of The Shaw Group, a Fortune 500 engineering, technology, construction, fabrication, nuclear, environmental and industrial services company with annual revenue of $7.3 billion in 2009, with approximately 28,000 employees throughout the world. During his eight years with The Shaw Group, Mr. Thompson also held other positions, including Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. a subsidiary of Shaw. Prior to The Shaw Group, Mr. Thompson served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer with Turner Industries. Before joining Turner Industries, Mr. Thompson was a senior manager for Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture. Mr. Thompson has a proven level of experience in implementing information systems in complex operating environments that delivers value to employees, clients, and business partners. Among other honors and awards he was named to Computerworld Magazine Top 100 and featured in a CIO Magazine cover story.

In his role as Executive Vice President of Administration and CIO for Amedisys, Mr. Thompson is responsible for providing oversight and direction related to administrative functions. Mr. Thompson will also be responsible for all Information Technology functions within the Company. Mr. Thompson began his duties as Executive Vice President of Administration and CIO on January 18, 2010.

"I am very pleased to be joining the Amedisys team - a company with a proven track record and a promising future,” said Mr. Thompson. "Amedisys is positioned to capitalize on the dynamic challenges facing the healthcare industry and I look forward to working with my fellow employees to deliver on our vision of being the leader in chronic care management and driving shareholder value."

Amedisys, Inc. is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AMED.”

This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking” statements, usually containing the words "believe”, "estimate”, "project”, "expect”, "anticipate” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Many of the factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are described in the Company’s periodic reports and registrations statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and include, but are not limited to the following: general economic and business conditions, changes in or failure to comply with existing regulations or the inability to comply with new government regulations on a timely basis, changes in Medicare and other medical reimbursement levels, ability to complete acquisitions announced from time to time, and any financing related thereto, the ability to meet debt service requirements and to comply with covenants in debt agreements, adverse changes in federal and state laws relating to the health care industry, demographic changes, availability and terms of capital, ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, ongoing development and success of new start-ups, ability to successfully integrate newly acquired agencies, changes in estimates and judgments associated with critical accounting policies, business disruption due to natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and various other matters, many of which are beyond management’s control. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

Our company website address is www.amedisys.com. We use our website as a channel of distribution for important company information. Important information, including press releases, analyst presentations and financial information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible on the "Investor Relations” subpage of our website, which is accessible by clicking on the tab labeled "Investors” on our website home page. We will also use our website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC”) disclosing the same information. In addition, we make available on the Investor Relations subpage of our website (under the link "SEC filings”) free of charge our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and any amendments to those reports as soon as practicable after we electronically file such reports with the SEC. Further, copies of our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, our Code of Ethical Business Conduct and the charters for the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees of our Board are also available on the Investor Relations subpage of our website (under the link "Corporate Governance”).

www.amedisys.com