Healthcare industry

Moody’s Investors Service last week revised the outlook on Loyola University of Chicago’s A3 credit to stable from negative because of strong operating performance and cash flow as well as operating improvement initiatives being undertaken by the university’s health system.

DALLAS — Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives expects to sell up to $1.2 billion of revenue bonds with a variety of structures in a multi-state deal tomorrow and Thursday.

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is making a push to expand its presence in the nation’s health care sector by ramping up its long-standing FHA mortgage insurance program for hospitals.

Las Vegas — Emerging slowly from the financial crisis, hard-hit nonprofit health care borrowers are gaining ground in market access and on credit spreads. However, they face tougher disclosure demands and must rethink strategies to lure investors going forward, especially given the looming uncertainties associated with national health care reform.

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent bankruptcies of two community hospitals in California show how difficult the current economic environment is for health care providers — and how much effort is required to actually bankrupt a hospital.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday dropped New Jersey’s largest health care provider, Saint Barnabas Health Care System to BB-plus from BBB-minus, affecting more than $800 million of outstanding debt. The outlook is negative.

CHICAGO — In a further reshuffling of Illinois’ finance team, debt manager Phil Culpepper will move over to the Illinois Housing Development Authority to the post of deputy executive director, while the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s chief financial officer, John Sinsheimer, has stepped into the newly created position of state director of capital markets.

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine at New York University is going to market next week with $369.6 million of tax-exempt bonds. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York will offer the fixed-rate bonds to retail investors on Tuesday and to institutional investors on Wednesday.

The Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted 14 to 9 to approve its version of a health care reform package, which would place increased reporting requirements on bond-financed and other nonprofit 501(c)(3) hospitals.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Sierra Kings Health District in Reedley, Calif., last week filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection after discovering that the proceeds of bond sales in 2006 and 2007 were misused.

The Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I., defaulted on scheduled interest and principal payments on bonds maturing this month, triggering a payment by its insurer, according to a notice posted last week by its trustee.

CHICAGO — Henry Ford Health Systems is expected to enter the market this week with $322 million of new-money and refunding revenue bonds as part of the system’s scaled-back capital campaign to expand its services across southeast Michigan.

Louisiana has opted for binding arbitration to resolve its dispute over the replacement value for Charity Hospital in New Orleans, wich was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

CHICAGO — Froedtert & Community Health Inc. enters the market today to issue $187 million of revenue bonds to restructure some remaining insured auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand bonds and raise new money for various projects.

Standard & Poor’s downgraded $23 million of bonds issued for Clark Retirement Community Inc. by the Michigan Strategic Fund to BBB-minus and revised its outlook to negative.

Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook to negative from stable on debt issued for Memorial Health System in South Bend.

Scott County voters have approved $24 million of bonds to build a new 24-bed hospital in Scott City to replace a 56-year-old facility.

A recently priced bond issue for a Honolulu senior-living facility is the first startup continuing care retirement community financing in more than 18 months, underwriter Ziegler Capital Markets said in a news release.

Standard & Poor’s on Friday lowered its rating to AA-plus from AAA on various long-term bonds issued for the Nemours Foundation. Fitch Ratings on Sept. 21 dropped its rating on the credit to AA-plus from AAA.

CHICAGO - A weak economy, slow housing market, and too much variable-rate debt took their toll on continuing-care retirement communities over the last year and are expected to continue to trouble the sector throughout next year, Fitch Ratings said in a report released yesterday.