Healthcare industry

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.

CHICAGO — The Ohio State University will enter the market Tuesday with $741 million of bonds to launch a $2 billion capital expansion program.

The North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System Inc. has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a civil fraud lawsuit in a deal the U.S. attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

CHICAGO — Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Bronson Methodist Hospital next Tuesday is expected to enter the muni market with $200 million of mostly refunding bonds that will shift nearly all of its debt into a fixed-rate mode.

CHICAGO — Detroit-area hospitals plan to spend up to $1.3 billion on capital projects over the next several years in the hopes of creating a medical industry to help replace the city’s vanishing manufacturing base, according to a new report.

Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating to BB-plus from BBB-minus on bonds issued by the Chatham County Hospital Authority on behalf of Memorial Health University Medical Center Inc.

Moody’s Investors Service this week downgraded the underlying rating of Marietta Area Health Care to Ba2 from Ba1. Washington County issued the debt on behalf of the hospital.

Moody's Investors Service Monday downgraded Lowell General Hospital in Massachusetts to Baa1 from A3 as the health care provider plans to increase its debt load dramatically to help finance a new patient tower. The outlook is stable.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said renovation efforts will begin soon on a storm-damaged hospital purchased late last week by the city for $16.3 million.

A new fiscal analysis projects federal health care reform could cost Nebraska up to $766 million over the next 10 years, largely due to its expansion of the Medicaid program.

DALLAS — The Bexar County, Tex., Hospital District plans to price $205 million of certificates of obligation Wednesday backed by the Build America Bond subsidy to expand San Antonio’s University Health System.

Moody's Investors Service cut Torrance Memorial Medical Center's long-term rating to A2 from A1 ahead of a $234 million issue planned for next month.