Healthcare industry

Voters in Riverside County, Calif., last week approved a proposal from the bankrupt Valley Health System to sell the public district's two hospitals and its other real estate assets to a for-profit group of local physicians.

New Jersey lawmakers are working to expand the abilities of the Capital City Redevelopment Corp., including the power to issue bonds and notes.

RBC Capital Markets announced that health care finance professional John Wells has been hired by the bank's municipal unit, which is ranked seventh as senior manager nationwide so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters.

Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly and other scientists at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida are looking for "nothing short of cures" when it comes to diseases such as HIV, swine flu, and the West Nile virus, says the institute's chief operating officer, Mark Williams.

The House version of health care reform stands to save state and local governments about $24 billion over the next 10 years, while the Senate leadership's proposal could potentially cut state costs by $83 billion, according to a new study comparing the fiscal impacts of the plans.

SAN FRANCISCO — A special ­election Tuesday may hasten the end of Valley Health System’s two-year-old Chapter 9 bankruptcy case and lead to the ­redemption of the Southern California public hospital district’s outstanding tax-exempt bonds.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Finance Authority board this week advanced $400 million of health care financings, including Memorial Health System’s $150 million issue selling today, and hired a new executive director — the agency’s general counsel and deputy director, Christopher Meister.

New York City has nearly selected all the projects for its $121 million allocation of Recovery Zone facility bonds, pending board approval, the conduit issuer said yesterday.

The Federal Housing Administration, insurer of nearly $20 million of North Philadelphia Health System Series 1997A bonds, will not acquire the borrower’s property and outstanding debt, as Bank of New York Mellon, trustee of the 1997 bonds, agreed to withdraw its notice of mortgage assignment to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

CHICAGO — With an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service in hand, Oak Brook, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care Network enters the market beginning today with $240 million of fixed-rate bonds in a deal that cements the Chicago area’s largest health care provider’s acquisition of ­BroMenn Health System.

CHICAGO — Strong governance at nonprofit hospitals appears to be a leading factor in winning upgrades, according to a report released this week by Moody’s Investors Service.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York adopted new borrowing guidelines for lower-rated credits at its monthly board meeting yesterday. DASNY’s board also gave final approval to $1.43 billion of bonds, mostly on behalf of the state.

Construction of Linden Ponds, an ­Erickson Retirement Communities development in the Boston area, will resume late next year, and investors in the project’s $156 million of tax-exempt bonds will be paid, Erickson executive staff told bondholders and market participants last week in an investor call.

DALLAS — Two university systems based in Denton, Tex., will use more than $180 million of bond proceeds for new facilities, including a satellite campus in Dallas 35 miles to the south.

CHICAGO — Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital today will begin pricing $100 million of fixed-rate revenue bonds to finance a chunk of its $800 million, six-year capital plan.

New Jersey pharmaceutical maker Theragen Inc. must immediately now pay all of the outstanding principal and accrued interest on its Series 2005 bonds because the borrower has been in default for more than 60 days, according to trustee Bank of Oklahoma NA.

Moody’s Investors Service last week placed its A1 issuer credit rating for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati on watch list for possible downgrade as the system undergoes changes in its corporate structure.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded Resurrection Health Care one notch to BBB-plus due to operating losses.

CHICAGO — The Clare at Water Tower, an upscale ­high-rise senior-living community in downtown Chicago that has struggled to meet financial ­projections due to cost ­overruns, construction delays, and ­faltering occupancy rates, drew $554,000 from its debt-service reserves to cover its Nov. 15 debt-service payment.

WASHINGTON — Alliance, Ohio, disclosed last week that the Internal Revenue Service has concluded an audit of $50 million of hospital revenue bonds it issued in 2003 with no change to the tax-exempt status.