Oklahoma City-based OU Medicine's financial outlook is stable, but its profile still reflects "very high debt levels" after its spinout from Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare in 2018, according to S&P Global Ratings.
In February 2018, OU Medicine assumed ownership of OU Medical System hospital facilities in the Oklahoma City area from HCA. At the time, OU Medicine had planned large capital investments at the medical center and said it would hire 300 employees by the end of 2018, adding $20 million to its payroll.
With the upcoming launch of its Epic IT system for revenue cycle management and EHR services, OU Medicine will close the last of its transitional agreements with HCA. S&P said it views that as a "significant achievement."
Outside of the HCA deal and Epic installation, OU Medicine also returned about $36 million in CARES Act grants, S&P said.
S&P said it expects the health system's cash on hand to possibly be improved by increased volume, added capacity and Oklahoma's expansion of Medicaid.