The Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital got another lift this week when Moody's Investors Service upgraded the underlying rating on $154 million of its outstanding debt to Aa3 from A1.
The debt was issued through the California Health Facilities Financing Authority and insured by Ambac Assurance Corp. Moody's assigned a stable outlook.
The hospital has shown improved liquidity that bolsters its strong clinical reputation and strong relationship with Stanford University, Moody's reported.
The action follows a Standard & Poor's decision last week to revise the outlook on its AA-minus rating to positive from stable.
Lucile Salter has no imminent debt issuance plans, said Keith Grundy, its chief financial officer. Grundy said the hospital makes it a point to keep the rating agencies apprised when its financial reports are delivered.
"We're pretty proactive about the ratings," he said. "We don't wait for them to call us."
The hospital is also in the process of getting its first-ever rating from Fitch Ratings, Grundy said.
