NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Ralph Lauren announced today that Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL), will make a $5 million gift to establish a hospital-based cancer prevention and treatment center located in Harlem.

Through a unique partnership with North General Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and Care will offer a comprehensive approach to cancer screening and care tailored to meet the specific needs of the Harlem community.

The initiative builds on the 20-year collaboration between Dr. Harold Freeman, president and CEO of North General and a prominent leader in the field of cancer treatment, and the Breast Examination Center of Harlem (BECH), a Memorial Sloan-Kettering program also directed by Dr. Freeman. One of the most innovative services provided by The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and Care will be patient navigators, an initiative that was pioneered by Dr. Freeman. The navigators follow patients through the course of their treatment and care to ensure that they are not lost in the complexities of the healthcare system.

"I am inspired by Dr. Freeman's commitment to improving the healthcare and lives of the poor and underserved, not only in Harlem but across the nation," stated Ralph Lauren, chairman and chief executive officer, Polo Ralph Lauren. "His leadership and compassion for the needs of the Harlem community helped raise my awareness of this critical issue. I wanted to respond to that need. With this gift, our goal is to establish a center in Harlem that could be a model for other centers around the country."

The Ralph Lauren Center will provide comprehensive education, screening and diagnostic services for a range of cancers -- breast cancer, and in addition, prostate, lung, cervical and colon cancers -- as well as treatment and referrals through the continuum of care. Located in North General Hospital, the Center will create a unique, comforting, neighborhood setting in which health awareness and cancer prevention services can be provided to the Harlem community.

"This extraordinary gift from Polo Ralph Lauren will make a difference in the lives of people who suffer disproportionately from cancer," said Dr. Freeman, who was just named the associate director for reducing health disparities for the National Cancer Institute. "I am thrilled that we will have an opportunity to apply all that we have learned at the Breast Examination Center of Harlem to a hospital setting, where we will expand our ability to detect cancers at an earlier, more curable stage."

"I believe that this is one of the most important and exciting projects undertaken by our Center," said Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering. "Everything we have accomplished at the Breast Examination Center of Harlem has been a prologue leading us to this natural next step. Ralph Lauren's vision and the generosity of Polo Ralph Lauren is what will make this possible."

Ralph Lauren has been a dedicated leader in the fight against breast cancer for more than a decade. From the establishment of The Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University Medical Center to the "Fashion Targets Breast Cancer " campaign, Mr. Lauren and Polo Ralph Lauren have united the fashion industry, helping to raise millions of dollars internationally for breast cancer research. His commitment has been recognized with the Humanitarian Awards from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (1998) and the Nina Hyde Center (1996).

As medical director of BECH, Dr. Freeman has overseen a pioneering program aimed at reducing the disparities in breast cancer mortality between white and minority women. The program, which is funded by New York State and Memorial Sloan-Kettering, provides free breast and cervical cancer screening to poor women in the Harlem community and beyond, many of whom lack health insurance or who are under insured. In two decades, more than 125,000 women have come to BECH.

An advisory committee with staff from North General and Memorial Sloan-Kettering will oversee development of The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and Care. Physicians from Memorial Sloan-Kettering will include Dr. Larry Norton, Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology; Dr. Moshe Shike, Director of The Society Center for Cancer Prevention and Wellness, and Dr. Richard Payne, Chief of the Pain and Palliative Care Service. A research component will be built into the program in order to advance understanding of the cultural factors that influence cancer care in an underserved community.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For more than 30 years, Polo's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include, "Polo by Ralph Lauren," "Polo Sport Ralph Lauren," "Ralph Lauren Collection," "Ralph Lauren Purple Label," "RALPH by Ralph Lauren," "Lauren by Ralph Lauren," "Polo Jeans Co. Ralph Lauren," and "Chaps Ralph Lauren," among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. In April 1999, Polo Ralph Lauren acquired Club Monaco, a vertical lifestyle retailer based in Toronto. In February 2000, Ralph Lauren Media LLC was formed as a joint venture between Polo Ralph Lauren, NBC and two of NBC's affiliated companies -- ValueVision International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVTV) and NBC Internet, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBCI) -- to bring the Polo Ralph Lauren American lifestyle experience to consumers via multiple media platforms, including the Internet, broadcast, cable and print.

North General Hospital, founded in 1979, is a 200-bed teaching hospital and has 180 physicians on its staff. North General has been fully certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. It recently entered an agreement with Memorial Sloan-Kettering for the collaborative development of a pain and palliative care program at the hospital. Harold Freeman, M.D., became president and chief executive officer of North General on Aug. 1, 1999. He is the former president of the American Cancer Society and the former Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital. Dr. Freeman currently chairs the President's Cancer Panel, and was recently named the associated director for health disparities at the National Cancer Institute. He has been medical director of the Breast Examination Center of Harlem for 20 years.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research and education in cancer. Throughout its long, distinguished history, the Center has played a leadership role in advancing the standard of care for patients with cancer. In 1999, Memorial Sloan-Kettering was named the nation's best cancer center for the seventh consecutive year by US News & World Report. The Breast Examination Center of Harlem (BECH) has been a program of Memorial Sloan-Kettering for two decades. It provides free screening for breast and cervical cancers to women who lack insurance or who are under insured, and has served more than 125,000 women from the Harlem Community and beyond. Harold Varmus, M.D., the former director of the National Institutes of Health, became president and chief executive officer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering in January 2000. He is the co-recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. SOURCE Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation

CONTACT: Avice Meehan of Memorial Sloan-Kettering, 212-639-3580, or Christine Hickey, 212-639-3626; Ellen Maguire of Polo Ralph Lauren,