Healthcare industry

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.

CHICAGO - In the first deal of its kind, a Federal Home Loan Bank recently provided a letter of credit for a tax-exempt health care bond issue that participants said offers an attractive option for smaller issuers struggling to secure credit enhancement in the current market.

New Orleans will pay up to $79 million to buy 70 acres of land north of downtown for a planned Veterans Affairs hospital and to relocate the residents.

CHICAGO - Catholic elementary and high schools are increasingly turning to the tax-exempt debt market to finance their capital projects, according to bankers at Ziegler Capital Markets, which recently closed a deal for the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Mich.

Standard & Poor’s last week lowered its underlying rating to A from A-plus on DCH Health Care Authority’s debt and maintained a negative outlook on the credit.

CHICAGO - Not-for-profit hospitals have been hard hit by recent capital markets turmoil, as providers have been forced to postpone debt sales while facing failed remarketings, negative swap valuations, and stricter covenants from a shrinking pool of credit providers, according to a pair of reports out this week.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority board yesterday advanced plans for more than $1.7 billion of bonding by a dozen borrowers, including the University of Chicago, and hired a new executive director - the state's former top fiscal officer, John Filan.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners last week approved a $930 million 2009 spending plan for the county’s health and hospital bureau, the first budget under a new a new independent board that took over the fiscally troubled health system earlier this year.

A deal to purchase Pontiac’s bankrupt North Oakland Medical Center came through at the 11th hour last week after Michigan agreed to a deal to sell the facility.

DALLAS - Denver's National Jewish Health has seen its rating from Fitch Ratings slip one notch to BBB from BBB-plus after reporting a $5.3 million operating loss amid a weakening balance sheet. The downgrade brings Fitch in line with Standard & Poor's on the nonprofit's $44.9 million of debt.