S&P Global Ratings affirmed its "A-" rating on South Weymouth, Mass.-based South Shore Hospital's revenue bonds and revised the outlook to negative from stable.
"The outlook revision reflects South Shore's weak financial performance in fiscal 2017 that lagged budget, even when excluding nonrecurring items from our calculation and balance sheet metrics that were below our expectation for the rating level," said S&P credit analyst Kelsey Thomas.
The rating affirmation is a result of several factors, including the hospital's modernization and expansion projects which will increase capacity as well as its improving operations and comprehensive strategic plan.