Economy

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 rating on Southwest General Health Center, located in the Cleveland suburb of Middleburg Heights, and revised its outlook to stable from negative after the center reported three years of improved operating results.

In the latest episode in the years-long effort to build a $425 million medical mart in Cleveland, the firm that plans to build the center has proposed a new downtown location, a move that “stunned” local politicians, according to reports.

Chicago and Bensenville on Monday announced a $16 million settlement that ends opposition to the city’s $8 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking to boost its bond issuance for fiscal 2009 by $200 million, with its next sale set for early to mid-December.

State, regional, and local transportation toll authorities will steadily issue debt as the economy recovers in order to pay for infrastructure maintenance and construction projects that cannot be funded from state and federal coffers, Moody’s Investors Service predicted in a report issued late last week.

CHICAGO — William Beaumont Hospital, one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, plans to enter the market next week with $273 million of fixed-rate new-money and refunding bonds that will continue the system’s efforts to reduce its floating-rate risks.

The New Hampshire Turnpike System this week will come to market with its first new-money issuance in 10 years with a $218.1 million revenue bond transaction that includes taxable Build America Bonds.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas and New York Gov. David Paterson last week announced that officials will replace the Lake Champlain Bridge after engineers said the 80-year-old span can’t be rehabilitated.

The Port of Seattle’s commissioners Tuesday agreed to move forward with a solicitation for financial advisory services.

CHICAGO — An already cash-strapped Illinois would subsidize debt service payments on $166 million of borrowing by the state’s Regional Transportation Authority under a plan announced by Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday to stave off fare hikes proposed by the Chicago Transit Authority.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Stressed community development districts in Florida this month have told bondholders that they continue to rely on reserves to make debt ­payments. Some have filed notices of default and analysts expect their number to increase.

CHICAGO — The Illinois ­Finance Authority board yesterday signed off on more than $1 billion of borrowing, mostly on behalf of nonprofit hospitals seeking to enter the tax-exempt market before the end of the year.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded Winona Health Obligated Group’s debt one notch to BBB-minus — just one step above junk status — due to ongoing operating losses.

The Chicago Transit Authority’s proposed $1.3 billion 2010 budget received the endorsement of a local government finance watchdog group for tackling its revenue shortfall with cuts and fare increases.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are pushing for states or the federal government to take a “programmatic” rather than a piecemeal or project-by-project approach to financing infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

DALLAS — As the nation’s port business drifts at low tide, Corpus Christi, Tex., is preparing for better days with a $250 million mixed-use container terminal financed through a public-private partnership.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday upgraded to BBB-plus from BBB $503.9 million of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey debt that is backed by unlimited student fees. The outlook is stable.

DALLAS — A decade after Austin-Bergstrom International Airport opened for business, it is keeping the light on for a super low-fare carrier that might want to use its no-frills South Terminal.

The Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority will pull together a team of advisers to assist it in implementing P3 transactions and releasing requests for proposals related to specific assets.

DALLAS — Public transit agencies will be hard-pressed to maintain existing systems while extending service to new areas during difficult economic times without additional sources of revenue.