Exhibit 99.1

  Haemonetics Elects Susan Foote and Pedro Granadillo to Board of Directors

    BRAINTREE, Mass., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Haemonetics
Corporation announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Susan
Bartlett Foote and Pedro Granadillo to fill open director seats.  Ms. Foote is
associate professor and head of the Division of Health Service Research and
Policy at the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.  Mr.
Granadillo is senior vice president at Eli Lilly and Company with
responsibility over global manufacturing and human resources.  The
appointments are effective immediately.

    In addition to their board responsibilities, Ms. Foote and Mr. Granadillo
will serve on the Compensation and Management Development Committee of the
Board.  Mr. Granadillo will also serve on the Nominating and Governance
Committee.

    Ronald A. Matricaria, Haemonetics' Chairman, said, "Susan and Pedro bring
exceptional strengths and diverse backgrounds that will complement those of
our existing Board.  Susan has a breadth of experience in healthcare policy,
as well as in regulatory and governmental affairs.  Pedro has a strong record
of leadership in implementing award-winning human resource programs and
managing a world-class, rapidly growing global manufacturing organization."

    Ms. Foote has been a professor for more than twenty years, at the Haas
School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the
University of Minnesota.  Previously, Ms. Foote was the Robert Wood Johnson
Health Policy Fellow in the Office of U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger and a
senior health policy analyst.  In these roles she participated in
comprehensive health reform legislation and issues related to the medical
device industry.  Most recently, she was president of Public Policy Partners
where she focused on policy development, political strategy, lobbying, and
advocacy on health issues that included FDA reform, Medicare payment policy,
and medical technology policy.

    Ms. Foote graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor
of Arts and a Master of Arts in History.  She also has a law degree from Boalt
Hall School of Law at the University of California.  She has published
extensively on public policy and healthcare reform and previously held
advisory positions for the Food and Drug Administration and the National
Institutes of Health.  Ms. Foote currently serves on the boards of Banner
Health Systems, Urologix, Inc., and the Park Nicollet Research Institute.  She
serves on the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee to the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services and the Medical Technology Leadership Forum, a think
tank on medical technology policy issues.

    Mr. Granadillo has been with Eli Lilly and Company since 1970.  He held a
number of manufacturing positions which included thirteen years in
international assignments.  He was promoted through a series of positions to
become Vice President of Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Operations.
Subsequently, he was named Vice President of Human Resources.  Under his
leadership Eli Lilly has become recognized as a progressive employer by
Working Mother magazine, the U.S. Department of Labor, and Harvard Business
Review.  In 1998 Mr. Granadillo assumed additional responsibility for global
manufacturing and quality operations overseeing more than 20 sites and 13,000
employees worldwide.  Mr. Granadillo has announced his retirement from Eli
Lilly effective September 30, 2004.

    Mr. Granadillo graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science
in Industrial Engineering.  He serves on the boards of First Indiana
Corporation, a publicly-traded banking company; First Indiana Bank, N.A.; and,
Purdue Research Foundation.

    Haemonetics Corporation

    Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) is a global company engaged in the design,
manufacture and worldwide marketing of automated blood processing systems.
These systems address important medical markets: surgical blood salvage, blood
component collection, plasma collection, and blood component safety.  To learn
more about Haemonetics' products and markets, visit its web site at
http://www.haemonetics.com.

     Contact:
     Julie Fallon
     Tel. (781) 356-9517
     Alt. Tel. (617) 320-2401
     fallon@haemonetics.com

SOURCE  Haemonetics Corporation
    -0-                             08/18/2004
    /CONTACT:  Julie Fallon of , +1-781-356-9517, or Alt. Tel.,
+1-617-320-2401, fallon@haemonetics.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.haemonetics.com/
    (HAE)

CO:  Haemonetics Corporation
ST:  Massachusetts
IN:  MTC
SU:  PER