New York, NY–The global credit rating agencies Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, and Fitch Ratings have assigned Aa3/A+/A+ ratings to $110.5 million of new bonds to be issued next month by HHC, and said the rating outlook is stable.

Fitch also affirmed HHC's A+ rating on approximately $1 billion in outstanding debt. HHC expects to issue the new bonds the week of March 18, with proceeds used to pay off a portion of the outstanding debt.

The three agencies said the high ratings are linked to HHC's strong support from New York City and its essential role as the primary safety net provider to the City's Medicaid and indigent population.

"These ratings are confirmation of HHC's essentiality to the City of New York and HHC's well-developed program to transform to meet the challenges of health care reform," said Marlene Zurack, HHC Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Citing HHC's management team as one of the organization's strengths, Fitch said HHC "has a seasoned management team in place that has produced stable financial performance, completed or is near completing major capital modernization projects at seven of 11 of its acute care hospitals, received federal approval as an accountable care organization, maintained productive relationships with key stakeholders, including NYC officials, and implemented an enterprise-wide process improvement tool that has led to enhanced quality and approximately $487 million in system wide savings."

About HHC 

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare delivery system with its own 420,000 member health plan, MetroPlus, and is the largest municipal healthcare organization in the country. HHC serves 1.4 million New Yorkers every year and more than 475,000 are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 70 community based clinics. HHC Health and Home Care also provides in-home services for New Yorkers. HHC was the 2008 recipient of the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission's John M. Eisenberg Award for Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hhc.

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