Healthcare industry

Fitch Ratings has upgraded Olmsted Medical Center's rating by one notch, pushing it into the A category in recognition of its strong financial profile and increasing liquidity.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded to BB-plus from BBB-minus $30 million of revenue bonds issued for Beatrice Community Hospital.

El Paso County Hospital District will use proceeds from $152 million of certificates of obligation to build clinics and renovate a hospital in El Paso.

A Maine legislative study of ways to pay off the state's $484 million debt to Maine's hospitals shows that a bond sale would generate the most money.

Iowa Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald called Gov. Terry Branstad's alterative to the federal government's Medicaid expansion a bad deal for the state.

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority approved on Tuesday the sale of $1.9 billion of bonds to help Kaiser Foundation build six new hospitals, expand a current one, and construct a specialty medical office.

The Illinois Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a direct appeal of a Circuit Court decision leaving intact a state overhaul of retiree health care benefits.

Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and South Dakota-based Sanford Health have canceled discussions over a possible union due to mounting opposition in Minnesota.

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago plans to sell up to $450 million of new-money and refunding bonds as it finalizes financing plans for a $550 million replacement facility.

Indianapolis comes to market Tuesday with $42 million of lease revenue bonds that mark the final piece of a financing for a massive new $734 million public safety net hospital located in downtown Indianapolis.

Baylor Health Care System plans to issue bonds ahead of its merger with Scott & White Healthcare, and Moody's downgraded Baylor Health one notch.

Edward Hospital & Health Services and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare formally decided to merge to create one system with more than $1 billion in annual revenues.

The Mississippi Legislature is nearing agreement on a $5.7 billion general fund budget for 2014, though questions remain over Medicaid expansion.

Fitch Ratings revised the outlook on the Georgia DeKalb County Hospital Authority to negative from stable citing a decline in operating cash flow below expectations.

Minnesota Attorney General will hold hearings beginning next week to probe South Dakota-based Sanford Health's possible acquisition of Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services.

A private foundation linked to the $3 billion bond-funded Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas may have improperly changed its name and procedures in the wake of several investigations of alleged insider deals, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

NABL is urging Treasury and the IRS to provide guidance ensuring that tax-exempt private-activity bonds don’t become taxable if the issuing governments and nonprofit hospitals take steps to implement President Obama’s health care reform law.

Arkansas will save almost $700 million through a private insurance option in an expansion of the Medicaid program, a report said.

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority approved on Thursday issuing $450 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds for Sutter Health System to construct a hospital in Santa Rosa and medical clinics in Sunnyvale and San Carlos.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing two separate series of hospital revenue bonds totaling $142.2 million that were issued by the Highlands County, Fla., Health Facilities Authority in 2005 and 2007 and then redeemed.