กรุงเทพฯ--6 พ.ค.--Standard & Poor's
DALLAS (Standard & Poor's) May 5, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Serviceslowered its underlying rating (SPUR) to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' on Christian County,Ky.'s $60.1 million series 2006 fixed-rate debt, issued for Jennie StuartMedical Center (Jennie Stuart or JSMC) and insured by Assured Guaranty Corp.The outlook is stable.
We lowered the rating based on the application of our U.S. not-for-profitacute-care stand-alone hospital criteria published Dec. 15, 2014 onRatingsDirect.
"The 'BBB-' rating reflects our view of such factors as Jennie Stuart'snegative operating performance in fiscal 2014, soft volumes, small revenuebase and challenging payor mix, and small medical staff," said Standard &Poor's credit analyst Kevin Holloran.
The stable outlook reflects our view that although the operating performancewas markedly negative in fiscal 2014, Jennie Stuart appears to be improvingits financial performance on a month-by-month basis.