Fitch: Riddle Health System (Pennsylvania) Anticipated Acquisition from Jefferson Health System.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- On November 28, 2006, the board of directors of Riddle Health System (Riddle; revenue bonds rated 'BBB' by Fitch) and Jefferson Health System's (JHS JHS Junior High School JHS Jefferson High School JHS Jacksonville High School (Jacksonville, Alabama) JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies JHS Jordan High School (Sandy, Utah) ; revenue bonds rated 'AA-' by Fitch) Main Line Health (MLH MLH Mellieha (postal locality, Malta) MLH Mint, Lightly Hinged MLH Major League Hockey MLH Michigan League of Handweavers MLH Mulhouse, France - Mulhouse (Airport Code) ) division announced that Riddle will become a member of MLH. It is anticipated that Riddle will join MLH on Jan. 1, 2007. However, the acquisition is still awaiting approval from the governmental regulatory bodies. Fitch currently has an underlying rating of 'BBB' with a Negative Outlook on Riddle's $41 million of outstanding hospital revenue bonds Hospital revenue bond A bond issued to finance construction of a hospital by a municipal or state agency. hospital revenue bond Tax-exempt debt issued by a city, county, state, or hospital authority with debt service guaranteed by hospital (for more information, please refer to Fitch's last report dated June 24, 2005). Similar to prior years, Riddle continued to post operating losses in fiscal 2006 with a loss of $4.3 million or negative margin of 2.8%, which is mitigated by moderate liquidity indicators of 107 days cash on hand and cash to debt of 87.8%. Fitch has a rating of 'AA-' with a Positive Outlook on JHS' $622 million of outstanding hospital revenue bonds (for more information, please refer to Fitch's last report dated May 02, 2006). JHS will not be assuming the debt of Riddle. However, JHS may refinance the hospital's debt sometime in 2007. The impact to JHS' rating is expected to be limited given Riddle's smaller size. Riddle's full affiliation with JHS could have a positive long term impact to the hospital as it provides Riddle with better access to capital and the inherent benefits of being part of a large healthcare system. Located in Media, PA (approximately 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia), Riddle is an acute care hospital with 180-staffed beds (247-licensed beds). In fiscal 2006, Riddle reported total operating revenues of $152 million. Headquartered in Radnor, PA, JHS is a large health care system operating nine acute-care hospitals (3,168 staffed beds), three physical rehabilitation physical rehabilitation See Physical therapy. hospitals, two skilled nursing facilities, one psychiatric hospital psychiatric hospital n. A hospital for the care and treatment of patients affected with acute or chronic mental illness. Also called mental hospital. , and multiple clinical delivery sites throughout the Philadelphia/ Delaware Valley area. In fiscal 2006, JHS reported total operating revenues of $3.2 billion. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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