Money Talk

Who's up and who's down

Up
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
Rating: A3
Outlook: Positive
Affected debt: $101.2 million
Agency: Moody's Investors Service
Remarks: Outlook upgraded from stable to reflect expectations of continued favorable operating performance compared with the organization's debt and capital spending plans.

Up
University of Alabama Hospital, Birmingham, AL
Rating: A1
Outlook: Stable
Affected debt: $220 million
Agency: Moody's Investors Service
Remarks: Outlook raised to stable from negative because of growth in operating cash flow to improve debt coverage ratios.

Down
Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare Inc., Louisville, KY
Rating: A+
Outlook: Negative
Affected debt: $330 million
Agency: Standard & Poor's
Remarks: Outlook reduced to negative from stable because of challenged operations over the past three years, including a negative operating margin of 1.32% for the unaudited 2007 fiscal year.

Down
Hallmark Health System, Boston
Rating: BBB
Outlook: Stable
Affected debt: $63.9 million
Agency: Standard & Poor's
Remarks: Outlook revised to stable from positive because of financial performance that did not meet expectations and continued losses from operations year-to-date.

—Philip Betbeze