Healthcare industry

Madison-based University of Wisconsin Health and Illinois-based SwedishAmerican Health System announced plans to merge.

A federal decision is a credit positive for New York's nonprofit hospitals, said Moody's Investors Service.

S&P cut the ratings on the bonds of Tuomey Healthcare System in South Carolina two notches, to CC from CCC, citing the hospital's plan to file for bankruptcy if it fails to prevail in a federal lawsuit.

Junk-rated Citrus Memorial Hospital in Florida continues to see financials decline and its ratings drop further into junk territory while its bonds continue to trade near par.

Fitch Ratings upgraded the rating on Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Wash., based on its improved financial performance.

South Carolina's Tuomey Healthcare System told bondholders Wednesday that it will file for bankruptcy if it cannot resolve a dispute with the federal government, which won a $237 million judgment against the hospital.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital received Double A ratings from the three top rating agencies ahead of plans Monday to price $100 million in fixed-rate revenue bonds and $100 million of unrated, private placement, variable rate bonds.

Officials at Ohio-based Promedica Health System Inc. said they would go to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary after a federal appeals court ruled a merger with another local provider would be anticompetitive.

St. Louis-based SSM Health Care heads into the market Wednesday with a $260 million sale that represents one piece of a roughly $1 billion debt restructuring aimed at streamlining and trimming the system's annual interest costs.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group’s A rating to positive from stable.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Daughters of Charity Health System, Calif. by six notches to junk level B-minus following the system's earlier announcement that it is looking for buyers for its hospitals.

Memorial Hermann Health System, one of Houston's pioneering health care providers, plans a $650 million expansion at its Texas Medical City campus.

Moody's Investors Service boosted Advocate Sherman Hospital's rating by one level to Baa1 in recognition of its acquisition by the fiscally healthier Advocate Health Care Network last year.

Genesis Healthcare, an already junk-rated two-hospital system located outside Zanesville, Ohio, was downgraded by Moody's amid weak cash-flow margins.

Oconee Regional Medical Center's failure to resolve covenant violations prompted Standard & Poor's to cut the Georgia hospital operator's ratings to CCC from B.

A new Austin medical school will share in the proceeds of a $285 million revenue bond issue from the University of Texas System.

New York's State Department of Health is this year's winner of the Citizens Budget Commission prize of public service innovation.

Three Detroit-area hospital systems said Friday they plan to merge into a single $2.8 billion system.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called a special session for March 24 because the House and Senate were unable to agree on a state budget or expanding Medicare.

After a battle over how to expand Medicaid coverage in the state, Arkansas lawmakers have approved a $5 billion budget.