Healthcare industry

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority advanced borrowing plans totaling about $700 million for a handful of schools, cultural institutions, hospitals, and a pioneering proton therapy center in West Chicago to treat cancer.

SAN FRANCISCO - As he had threatened, the federal receiver charged with bringing California's prison health care system up to constitutional muster yesterday sought a court order demanding $8 billion from the state government to build health care facilities.

The Orange County, Fla., Health Facilities Authority has disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service has closed an arbitrage rebate-related examination of $109.6 million of hospital revenue bonds it issued in 2002 without changing their tax-exempt status.

Rapid City-based Regional Health is set to enter the market Thursday with $67.5 million of variable-rate demand bonds, most of which will be used to refund insured variable-rate debt originally sold in 2003.

DALLAS - Texas' Bexar County Hospital District will sell the first tax-supported debt in 43 years with Monday's negotiated sale of $274.1 million of combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation.

Massachusetts could tap into tobacco settlement and rainy-day funds to help pay down a $13.3 billion other post-employment benefit liability, according to a report released last week on the commonwealth's unfunded health care costs.

A proposal New York Gov. David Paterson announced yesterday to cut local assistance spending by 6% and to cut $506 million from Medicaid spending drew sharp criticism from organizations representing hospitals and municipalities.

DALLAS - Baylor College of Medicine in Texas will get closer to eliminating its outstanding auction-rate debt and all outstanding debt enhanced with insurance from Ambac Assurance Co. with next week's planned negotiated sale of $255 million of hospital revenue refunding bonds by the Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corp.

CHICAGO -OhioHealth today plans to sell $186.7 million of variable-rate demand revenue bonds to refund five-year-old auction-rate securities.

Fitch Ratings yesterday downgraded West Penn Allegheny Health System to BB-minus from BB and placed the credit on negative watch, while Standard & Poor's placed gave the health care provider on negative watch, affecting $758 million of outstanding debt.

CHICAGO - The prestigious Cleveland Clinic Health System plans to enter the market as soon as next month with a $1.1 billion bond issue that will refund all the system's auction-rate securities and include $500 million in new money to finance regional expansion.

Park Nicollet Health Services saw the outlook on its A credit revised last week to negative from stable by Standard & Poor’s to reflect soft patient numbers and concerns over its financial performance of late.

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded Aurora Health Care Inc. to A from A-minus in recognition of its strong credit profile and establishment as a fully integrated health care delivery system.

CHICAGO - Under pressure to justify their tax-exemption benefits, nonprofit hospitals in Illinois provided more than $4 billion in charitable care and other community benefits in 2006 and agreed to new pricing caps and discounts for the poor and uninsured, the Illinois Hospital Association asserts in a new report.

DALLAS - The Dallas County Hospital District is seeking a November vote on $747 million of general obligation and revenue bonds that would partially finance a $1.27 billion effort to replace Parkland Hospital, Dallas County's charity hospital.

DALLAS - New Mexico lawmakers will return to Santa Fe Aug. 15 for a special session to deal with issues high on Gov. Bill Richardson's agenda that got short shrift in last spring's regular session.

The New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority today will price nearly $250 million of state contract bonds to help support Catholic Health East's buyout of three Newark hospitals, a move that will help eliminate the area's number of vacant hospital beds.

WASHINGTON - Marking the 10th anniversary of Allegheny Health, Education, and Research Foundation's historic bankruptcy filing and payment default, Moody's Investors Service issued a report yesterday on the lessons learned from that debacle and the challenges still facing nonprofit hospitals.

Standard & Poor’s Wednesday dropped the underlying rating on Antelope Valley Healthcare District revenue bonds to speculative grade.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an $887 million general obligation bond measure that would pay to rebuild the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center if approved by voters in November.