Healthcare industry

The Regents of the University of Minnesota will sell $141 million of general obligation bonds Thursday to finance construction of a new ambulatory care center.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded the ratings on more than $1 billion of outstanding revenue bonds issued for Stanford Hospital & Clinics.

Providence Health & Services priced a deal to finance acquisition of a California hospital, an example of the consolidation trend in healthcare as hospitals grapple with financial pressures wrought by the federal healthcare law

Moody's Investors Service downgraded University Medical Center Corp.'s $330 million of debt to Baa2 and retained a negative outlook as a possible sale of the Tucson, Ariz. hospital develops.

Unpaid medical bills dropped 31% in the first four months of the year after Arizona expanded Medicaid coverage to the working poor, according to a survey by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Moody's Investors Service has revised Aurora Health Care Inc.'s outlook on its A3 rating to positive from stable in recognition of its improving performance.

States that have opted not to expand Medicaid under the new federal health care law could lose out on $66 billion in economic activity over the next three years and $88 billion in direct federal aid through 2016, the White House Council of Economic Advisors says in new report.

Moody's Investors Service placed a negative outlook on Sutter Health’s revenue bonds, based on the system's poor operating performance and significant capital needs.

Standard & Poor's has downgraded Good Shepherd Health System to a junk-bond rating of BB-plus as the East Texas healthcare provider tries to stave off an accelerated debt payment schedule.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Detroit-area provider Henry Ford Health System one notch to A3, due to a deteriorating operating performance and struggles tied to implementation of a new electronic medical records system.

Moody's downgraded the ratings of King's Daughters Medical Center, Ky., to A3 from A2, with a continued negative outlook, partly because of a $41 million Department of Justice settlement.

The 2010 issuance of $165 million of Build America Bonds by Indianapolis' public hospital has thwarted a long-planned merger with another major Indiana system.

Three Detroit hospitals reached a final agreement to merge into a new $3.8 billion system that will be the largest in southeast Michigan.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to Ba3 from Baa3 the rating assigned to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Texas's (GSMC) $93.7 million of outstanding bonds issued by the Gregg County Health Facilities Development Corporation and the Harrison County Health Facilities Development Corporation.

The American Hospital Association has provided the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service with recommendations about updating tax-exempt bond rules to accommodate incentives of President Obama's health care reform law.

Two Chicago-based health systems — Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health — intend to join forces to create a joint operating company with a combined nine hospitals.

Moody's Investors Service has placed the University Medical Center Corp.'s Baa1 rating on review for downgrade after the Tucson nonprofit posted a large operating loss in the first nine months of its fiscal year.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook to positive from stable on Avera Health, one of South Dakota's largest health care providers, as the system comes to market this week with $59 million of bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service has determined in an audit that general obligation bonds issued in 2007 and 2009 by the Sierra Kings Health Care District in California are private-activity bonds and not tax-exempt governmental bonds.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Illinois-based Presence Health's rating one level to Baa2 due to ongoing operating pressures.