S&P Global Ratings downgraded Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care to "BBB+" from "A-."
Additionally, S&P affirmed its "BBB+" long-term rating on Jackson-based Mississippi Baptist Health Systems' series 2007A and 2015A revenue bonds and removed the bonds from CreditWatch developing. Mississippi Baptist Health System recently merged with Baptist Memorial Health Care.
"The rating action reflects our view of BMHC's ongoing sizable operating losses, which have lessened over the past two years compared with fiscal years 2014 and 2015 but are still under budgeted expectations for fiscal [year] 2017," said Suzie Desai, an S&P Global Ratings credit analyst. "The rating action also reflects our view of the integration of MBHS, which is initially dilutive to operations and requires further improvement overall for the system to approach positive operations."
The outlook is stable, reflecting S&P's expectation that BMHC will improve its market share and operating performance in the next few years due to several newly implemented initiatives.