Academic hospitals' investments decline sharply

In a glimpse of the economy's toll on the investment portfolios of some of Chicago's largest academic medical centers, a series of financial reports shows three of these hospitals losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Moody's Investors Service said in a report that the University of Chicago Medical Center's investments have lost more than 25% of their value. Cash and unrestricted investments fell to $625 million as of Nov. 30, from $842 million on June 30—the end of the hospital's fiscal year. The cash positions at Rush University Medical Center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital also have been hit hard, Moody's reports show.