Healthcare industry

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.

Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s recently downgraded Elliot Hospital’s Series 2003B revenue bonds to the triple-B category due to declining liquidity and growing debt levels.

CHICAGO — Smaller urban hospitals are especially vulnerable to fallout from cost-cutting measures that are certain to be part of a final health care reform bill now being debated by Congress, said Moody’s Investors Service.

DALLAS — A commission tasked with making Louisiana government more efficient voted Tuesday to seek another study on the state’s plans to build a $1.2 billion academic medical center in New Orleans.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Cullman County, Ala., Health Care Authority tomorrow plans to issue $75 million of fixed-rate revenue refunding bonds and pay a swap termination fee to restructure its debt portfolio.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 rating on Southwest General Health Center, located in the Cleveland suburb of Middleburg Heights, and revised its outlook to stable from negative after the center reported three years of improved operating results.

In the latest episode in the years-long effort to build a $425 million medical mart in Cleveland, the firm that plans to build the center has proposed a new downtown location, a move that “stunned” local politicians, according to reports.

CHICAGO — William Beaumont Hospital, one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, plans to enter the market next week with $273 million of fixed-rate new-money and refunding bonds that will continue the system’s efforts to reduce its floating-rate risks.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Stressed community development districts in Florida this month have told bondholders that they continue to rely on reserves to make debt ­payments. Some have filed notices of default and analysts expect their number to increase.

CHICAGO — The Illinois ­Finance Authority board yesterday signed off on more than $1 billion of borrowing, mostly on behalf of nonprofit hospitals seeking to enter the tax-exempt market before the end of the year.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded Winona Health Obligated Group’s debt one notch to BBB-minus — just one step above junk status — due to ongoing operating losses.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday upgraded to BBB-plus from BBB $503.9 million of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey debt that is backed by unlimited student fees. The outlook is stable.