Healthcare industry

The Oklahoma Hospital Association came out last week in opposition to a proposed Oklahoma amendment that would boost aid to public education because the group said it would reduce the money available for Medicaid funding.

DALLAS — A nonprofit corporation responsible for heating and cooling 13 million square feet of space at the Texas ­Medical Center in Houston will issue $52 million of revenue bonds to keep pace with the growing campus.

CHICAGO — Chicago-based BMO Capital Markets has hired senior public finance health care banker David Johnson and three of his colleagues from Ziegler Capital Markets for its merged higher education and health care practices, and named a fouth colleague to lead its strategy and analytics efforts.

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded to Aa3 from Baa2 its rating on St. Luke’s Hospital after it officially joined ProMedica Health System.

CHICAGO — The continuing-care retirement community sector is starting to show signs of stabilization after suffering through two years of hardship, according to credit analysts.

CHICAGO — Michigan’s largest charity-care provider, already junk-rated, saw its outlook revised to negative by Moody’s Investors Service Monday.

Fitch Ratings downgraded to A-plus from AA its rating on Reid Hospital & Healthcare Services Inc., affecting $188 million of debt. The outlook remains negative at the lower rating.

CHICAGO — Illinois hospitals pump more than $75.1 billion into the state’s economy annually and provide about $4.9 billion in community benefits, including $500 million in charity care, a new report from the Illinois Hospitals Association asserts.

CHICAGO — A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday approved Senior Care Development LLC’s $40 million bid to purchase two Chicago area bond-financed continuing care retirement communities although the size of a final payout for bondholders remains unclear.

The Victor Valley Community Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month.

A report on how much debt can be supported by the proposed new state teaching hospital in New Orleans will be released by the first of October.

Fitch Ratings last week affirmed St. Louis-based Lutheran Senior Services’ A-minus rating but warned of the possibility of a future downgrade of the system.

Hospitals, universities and other not-for-profit issuers are enjoying exceptionally low ­borrowing costs and rampant demand for their debt. The only problem is it is not likely to last forever.

New York Lieut. Gov. Richard Ravitch on Monday called for an overhaul of the state Medicaid system, which he said was on an unsustainable growth path.

The amount of debt that will be issued to build a new state hospital in New Orleans could be pared by $55 million to $100 million of expected additional federal reimbursements for hurricane damage to shuttered Charity Hospital.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday unveiled pension and health care reform measures that would help curb the state’s unfunded liabilities while passing more of those costs on to employees.

Fitch Ratings assigned a negative outlook and affirmed its BBB rating on $77 million of revenue bonds issued for Mercy Medical Center, a 340-bed hospital located in Canton.

DALLAS — The University of Texas System is preparing to price $631 million of taxable and tax-exempt bonds Tuesday, including $430 million for a new UT Southwestern Medical School hospital in Dallas.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The University of California will sell $670 million of mostly taxable Build America Bonds next week, its largest foray into the market this year, to help pay for campus upgrades.

CHICAGO — The Regents of the University of Minnesota on Wednesday will sell $146 million of bonds in two issues to fund biomedical science research facilities. The deal will offer a mix of tax-exempt revenue debt supported by a state appropriation and taxable Build America Bonds backed by the school’s credit.