S&P: No Rating Action on Operator of Dallas Ebola Hospital

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DALLAS — Standard & Poor's on Friday announced that it would take no rating action on Texas Health Resources, operator of the hospital that was the site of the first Ebola death on American soil.

S&P analyst Kevin Holloran reported on Friday that patient volumes at Presbyterian Hospital Dallas are beginning to pick back up after a diversion of ambulances to other hospitals ended.

Presbyterian's fumbling of the first U.S. Ebola case brought concern about the economic impact on the hospital and its parent corporation Texas Health Resources.

Presbyterian's inpatient volumes are down about 20% compared to the pre-Ebola date of Sept. 28.

"Management has also quantified an initial negative revenue impact of about $8.1 million," Holloran said. "About $145 million of Texas Health's variable rate bonds were tendered and all have been successfully remarketed."

Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan died there Oct. 8.

Two nurses at Presbyterian contracted Ebola while treating Duncan, but both were declared free of the disease Friday. Nina Pham and Amber Vinson had been transferred from Presbyterian to hospitals in Atlanta and Maryland that had special units to treat the disease.

In Washington, Pham met Friday with President Obama.

Texas Health Resources has said the event will not trigger any material adverse event clauses with its various liquidity providers on its variable rate debt.

"While we do expect the year-end financial results will be somewhat impacted by these events, we believe Texas Health continues to demonstrate a strong profile that remains consistent with its current AA rating," Halloran wrote.

Moody's Investors Service placed THR on its "developing" watch list after the Ebola cases surfaced. The hospital network's Aa3 rating had been on a "positive" outlook from Moody's.

THR has about $1.1 billion of debt outstanding.

The Standard & Poor's statement on THR came as media attention shifted to New York's Bellevue Hospital, where Dr. Craig Spencer, a physician who recently treated Ebola patients in Guinea, was diagnosed with the disease. Spencer, a volunteer for Doctors Without Borders, was taken to the hospital by ambulance Thursday with a high fever.

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