Healthcare industry

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook to negative from stable on Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare’s Baa1 rating as a result of the hospital’s weakened credit profile. The action affects $502 million of debt.

DALLAS - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said a more detailed business plan is needed for a proposed state hospital complex in New Orleans that would replace storm-damaged Charity Hospital.

Congress should be careful when considering whether to legislatively require nonprofit hospitals to meet national minimum standards to remain tax-exempt, because the legislation could impose unfair burdens and costs and potentially damage the hospitals' bond ratings, an attorney warned earlier this week.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York yesterday approved up to $1.27 billion of refundings of state-backed debt and took actions to deal with the downgrade of a liquidity provider used by some of its conduit borrowers.

DALLAS - The Lower Rio Grande Valley would get its first medical school under legislation awaiting Texas Gov. Rick Perry's signature.

CHICAGO - Chicago-based Resurrection Health Care's "sizeable" losses, which have eroded the Catholic system's liquidity and debt service coverage ratios, prompted Standard & Poor's yesterday to revise its outlook on the underlying BBB-plus credit to negative from stable.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering mandating nonprofit hospitals to provide a minimum level of charitable patient care and meet other requirements to retain their tax-exempt status and issue 501(c)(3) bonds.

CHICAGO - The triple-A rated University of Michigan enters the market tomorrow with $225 million of debt - the first piece in about $315 million of borrowing planned through early June that includes $50 million of Build America Bonds to finance a new women's and children's hospital and stadium renovations.

CHICAGO - Joliet, Ill.-based Silver Cross Hospital and Medical Centers is looking at entering the market as soon as this week with its long-planned sale of $250 million of fixed-rate bonds to help finance construction of a replacement hospital - an undertaking that officials believe was worth multiple-notch downgrades over the long term.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A Kentucky lawmaker said he will raise questions today about whether a lease transaction to finance the purchase of a hospital exposed a flagship state university to risks posed by an underlying swap and letter of credit.

WASHINGTON - The top Republican on the Senate's tax-writing committee yesterday suggested that nonprofit hospitals, which are currently tax-exempt and have the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds, should instead become taxable and receive tax deductions or credits for charitable activities.

WASHINGTON - Medicare and Social Security trust funds will run out of money in 2017 and 2037, respectively - two to four years earlier than previously projected - because of the recession, trustees concluded in annual reports sent to Congress.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn late last month said Dr. Quentin Young declined his appointment to serve as chairman of the Health Facilities Planning Board after discovering that his former practice had partial ownership in a property that leases space to Advocate Health Care.

Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded Provena Health System’s issuer credit rating to BBB-plus from A-minus due to challenged operations and light debt-service coverage, and assigned a negative outlook.

New York Gov. David Paterson yesterday nominated a new chairman to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the second largest issuer of bonds in the country. Paterson picked Alfonso L. Carney Jr. to replace Gail Gordon, who has served as chairwoman for 11 of the 14 years she’s been on the board.

The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Finance Authority will head to market in the next two weeks with $200 million of tax-exempt, new-money debt on behalf of Partners HealthCare System.

CHICAGO - A pair of struggling Midwestern hospitals lost their investment-grade ratings from Standard & Poor's last week. Both are suffering from extremely low liquidity - an increasing concern for rating analysts - and recent operational losses.

DALLAS - The Dallas County Hospital District will not issue for at least a year any of the $747 million of voter-authorized bonds that will finance most of a $1.27 billion project to replace county-owned Parkland Hospital.

April is proving to be a busy month for bonds in Nassau County, N.Y.

Standard & Poor’s said it would maintain its A rating and stable outlook on Fargo-based MeritCare Health System after it was forced to evacuate all patients and workers from one of its hospitals due to rising floodwaters in the Red River.