Healthcare industry

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York on Wednesday approved $426 million of health care bonds for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Obligated Group. The 30-year bonds will be sold through negotiated sales.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened an audit of $31 million of health center revenue bonds issued in 2005 by the Lebanon County, Pa., Health Facilities Authority to refund bonds previously sold in 1999 for a retirement facility.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised its outlook to positive from stable on Northfield Hospital’s low investment-grade rating of BBB-minus.

Health care and housing remain two of the most risky sectors in the municipal market, with the federal health care bill and the sluggish real estate market contributing to skepticism about the sectors. But muni experts say some distressed debt is safe enough to be a buying opportunity.

The Birmingham City Council Tuesday unanimously approved the issuance of $215 million of revenue bonds on behalf of the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation.

Massachusetts’ $30.6 billion budget for fiscal 2012, which restored $65 million in local aid and improved the ability of governments to manage health-care costs, is a credit-positive for municipalities, Moody’s Investors Service said.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court last week overturned an appeals court ruling and upheld the tax-exempt status of an outpatient facility operated by nonprofit Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.

DALLAS — Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy Tuesday night will hear from opponents as well as backers of a proposed $1.2 billion, 424-bed state academic medical center in New Orleans.

The Maine Health and Higher Education Facilities Authority plans to sell $290 million of Series 2011 revenue bonds Tuesday to benefit a construction spree by the MaineGeneral Medical Center.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Aug. 9 at Quincy High School on the proposed $38 million sale of Quincy Medical Center Inc. to Steward Health Care System LLC.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority board Tuesday signed off on Advocate Health Care Network's sale of up to $533 million of new-money and refunding bonds, and the newly merged Central DuPage Health-Delnor Health System's $190 million direct-purchase issue.

Moody's Investors Service last week affirmed Fairfield Medical Center's Baa2 rating and revised its outlook to stable from negative, citing its sustained operating improvements. The action affects $34.2 million of rated debt.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook on Saint Luke's Health System's A1 rating to stable from negative due to its improved operating performance. The action affects $532 million of debt issued through the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

Moody's Investors Service changed its outlook on Decatur Memorial Hospital's A2 rating to negative from stable due to a downturn in its operating performance. The action applies to nearly $40 million of debt.

DALLAS - After pricing $347 million of general obligation bonds for expansion of state facilities Monday, Texas is preparing another $300 million of taxable debt for its Cancer Prevention Research Institute next week.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has asked a bankruptcy judge to review the proposed $38 million sale of Quincy Medical Center Inc. to Steward Health Care System LLC.

DALLAS - The board overseeing the construction of a proposed $1.2 billion state hospital in New Orleans decided Wednesday to take another look at the proposed financing.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Loyola University Chicago's rating one level to A2 following the completion of the school's sale of its health system to Trinity Health on June 30.

The Internal Revenue Service closed a routine audit without changing the tax-exempt status of $147.5 million of auction-rate securities sold by the New Mexico Hospital Equipment Loan Council in May 2004.

DALLAS — The board set up to finance and operate a new state teaching hospital in New Orleans has withdrawn its request for federal enhancement of revenue bonds needed to build the $1.2 billion University Medical Center.