Healthcare industry

Columbia St. Mary and Froedtert & Community Health’s partnership is now on hold due to economic conditions.

Standard & Poor’s earlier this month downgraded Crittenton Hospital Medical Center’s debt to A from A-plus due to economic challenges facing the hospital.

CHICAGO - Loyola University of Chicago has stepped up to help its ailing health system with an infusion of $19 million in cash, a move that staved off the system's violation of bank liquidity terms and the loss of its investment grade credit.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings last week rated the Urbana, Ill.-based Carle Foundation's upcoming $250 million bond sale AA-minus and assigned an "evolving" outlook due to the uncertain outcome and the fiscal impact of its merger discussions with an affiliated physicians' group.

San Francisco is making plans to sell $136 million of one-year bond anticipation notes next month to finance the first phase of the rebuilding of San Francisco General Hospital.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has raised its proposed compensation to Louisiana for hurricane-related damages to Charity Hospital in New Orleans to $150 million from an initial $23 million.

Yeshiva University's tax-exempt bonds have been hammered this week as the private, nonprofit university acknowledged potential losses in an investment scheme and a shrinking endowment.

DALLAS - Louisiana's constitutional limit on annual debt service may derail Gov. Bobby Jindal's plans to use the proceeds from $400 million of revenue bonds to finance the proposed new $1.2 billion Louisiana State University teaching hospital in downtown New Orleans.

CHICAGO - Following a sharp spike in downgrades among not-for-profit hospitals over the last two months, Moody's Investors Service warned that the sector is increasingly struggling with a number of internal and market-related pressures.

Fitch Ratings last week revised its outlook to negative from stable on debt issued by Akron-based Summa Health System as it prepares to take on more debt to finance an expansion.

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded to AA-minus from A-plus Saint Francis Medical Center’s $53.9 million of debt issued through the Cape Girardeau Industrial Development Authority.

Declining revenues and a potential default event prompted Fitch Ratings late Tuesday to downgrade Saint Barnabas Health Care System to BB-plus from BBB, affecting roughly $900 million of debt. Fitch also revised the outlook to negative.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings yesterday revised to negative from stable its outlook on the U.S. not-for-profit hospital sector, citing a slew of capital and operational challenges.

Condell Medical Center in Libertyville has agreed to pay the federal and state governments $36 million under a settlement that resolves the 283-bed hospital’s improper collection of Medicare and Medicaid payments.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday announced it would hear Provena Covenant Medical Center's appeal of a lower court opinion that stripped the Urbana hospital of its property tax exemption for failing to provide sufficient charity care.

CHICAGO - Michigan's William Beaumont Hospital is expected to enter the market this week with roughly $170 million of revenue bonds after it significantly scaled back its capital plan in the face of operational challenges and a volatile credit market.

New Jersey officials are holding out for better market conditions on a $169 million Solaris Health System refinancing that's part of the state's Hospital Asset Transformation Program.

Only weeks after downgrading the credit, Moody’s Investors Service this week revised its outlook on William Beaumont Hospital to negative from stable as it prepares to issue $169 million of revenue bonds.

A month after it was forced to purchase a chunk of its own debt when it was unable to access the frozen credit markets, a Kalamazoo-based hospital plans to try again early next month.

CHICAGO - A few months after postponing a $583 million bond sale and suffering downgrades from all three rating agencies, Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont Hospitals this week announced a $60 million turnaround plan that will include layoffs, pay cuts, and a delay in construction projects.