Fitch Ratings affirmed its "B" issuer default rating on Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, affecting $15.4 billion of debt.
The affirmation is a result of several factors, including Tenet's favorable operating profile as one of the largest for-profit providers in the U.S., plan to restructure through divesting hospitals and refreshing its hospital board and improved payer mix as a result of acquiring Addison, Texas-based United Surgical Partners International, an ambulatory surgical center chain, in 2015. Fitch also acknowledged the health system's weak free-cash-flow generation, high leverage metrics and limited ability to repay debt.
The outlook is stable.