Healthcare industry

CHICAGO - Novi, Mich.-based Trinity Health's possible acquisition of the stand-alone, 159-year-old Mercy Health System, based in Chicago, last week advanced when the two Catholic health care providers announced they had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to negotiate a union.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Saints Medical Center of Lowell to Caa1 from B1 after it and the for-profit Steward Health Care System of Boston ended their merger discussions.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service warned Thursday that Illinois' crackdown on the property-tax exemptions of nonprofit hospitals over the amount of charity care they provide could pose a credit threat to the sector here.

Adventist Health closed a deal Monday to take over the formerly bankrupt Sierra Kings Heath Care District’s Central California clinics and hospital.

CHICAGO - Two large Chicago-area health care systems announced Wednesday they have finalized a merger that will create the largest Catholic health care network in Illinois.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook on Mercy Hospital’s A2 rating to negative from stable due to a decline in operating performance.

Moody’s Investors Service last week affirmed its Baa2 rating on King’s Daughters’ Hospital and Health Services but revised the outlook to negative from stable, warning that the facility faces volume and operating pressures.

Highmark Inc. announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to affiliate with West Penn Allegheny Health System Inc.

Fitch Ratings downgraded more than $370 million of debt issued for Eisenhower Medical Center to BBB from A-minus.

San Diego-based Rady Children’s Hospital received an A-plus from Fitch Ratings on $150 million of bonds to be sold through negotiation the week of Nov. 7.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook to positive from stable on Minnesota’s HealthPartners Inc.’s A3 rating in recognition of its improved operating performance.

SAN FRANCISCO - A California health care district is swaying once again on the edge of bankruptcy after emerging from Chapter 9 protection only three years ago.

Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating one notch on $35 million of outstanding bonds issued for Casa Colina Inc. and Affiliates to BBB from BBB-plus.

The Children’s Hospital of Orange County received A ratings from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s on $105 million of fixed-rate bonds expected to sell on Oct. 24.

San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, which operates 40 hospitals throughout California, Nevada and Arizona, is planning a $645 million new-money and refunding deal next week.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Hazelden Foundation’s A3 rating ahead of its upcoming $20 million sale of fixed-rate debt to finance various projects that will raise the prominent Minnesota-based treatment center’s debt load by 70%.

Moody’s Investors Service last week withdrew its Ba3 rating on Methodist Hospital after it failed to provide sufficient financial information.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group’s underlying A-minus rating to positive in recognition of its operating performance and a reduction in construction risks as it nears completion on a new patient tower.

CHICAGO - A weak real estate market continues to plague the long-troubled senior living sector, though providers have enjoyed some stabilization in the last year, Standard & Poor's said in a new report.

An 18-story hotel in New Orleans that never reopened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 will be imploded next month to make way for Louisiana State University’s new academic hospital.