Fitch Ratings has affirmed the "BB+" rating assigned to bonds issued on behalf of 443-bed Hurley Medical Center, a safety-net teaching hospital in Flint, Mich., and revised the hospital's outlook from stable to positive.
The rating was affirmed on the following HMC bonds: series 1998A revenue refunding bonds, series 1998B revenue rental bonds, series 2003 revenue and refunding bonds, series 2010 revenue rental bonds, series 2013A revenue rental bonds and 2013B revenue refunding bonds.
The rating affirmation was supported by a number of factors, including HMC's focus on population health and good debt service coverage.
The hospital also faces some challenges, which were considered for the rating affirmation, such as operating in a competitive service area.
Fitch also revised the hospital's financial outlook from stable to positive. The positive outlook reflects HMC's "operating profile and liquidity position in fiscal 2014, which has improved since last review and continues to show improvement through the three month interim period ending Sept. 30, 2014," according to Fitch.
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