Corporate News and Events

Trinity Health Earns ‘AA’ Ratings Upgrade from Standard & Poor’s

Credit upgrade completes trio of raised ratings over two fiscal years

NOVI, Michigan (Dec. 21, 2007) - Trinity Health announced today that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised its credit rating on series bonds to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘, a year after receiving similar ratings upgrades from Moody’s and Fitch ratings services. The higher ratings will save the health system millions of dollars in interest in future years.

”This news speaks to our substantial improvements in taking our health organization to the next level of performance,” said Joseph Swedish, President and CEO, Trinity Health. “It’s a confirmation of our work to leverage the skill and scale of our entire enterprise toward cost savings and quality improvements.”

In separate announcements this week:
• Standard & Poor’s raised its standard long-term rating and underlying rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘
• Fitch affirmed its ‘AA’ rating, stable outlook.
• Moody’s affirmed its ‘Aa2’ rating and stable outlook.

According to Standard & Poor’s, reasons for the upgrade included strong financial performance, sound governance, quality of management, funding of the pension plan, a strong balance sheet and geographic diversity of earnings.

In affirming its “AA” rating and “stable outlook,” Fitch noted in its report that Trinity Health is among the “strongest credits in Fitch’s “AA” non-profit health care portfolio.” The credit rating is supported by Trinity Health’s “excellent management practices, continued strong debt service coverage, breadth and scale of operations, and low debt burden.” Fitch also described Trinity Health’s corporate treasury function and its financial disclosure and reporting practices as “one of the best in the industry.”

In affirming Trinity Health’s Aa2 rating, Moody’s noted strong operating cash flows to support existing debt service, while maintaining its liquidity and balance sheet profile.

“The positive ratings opinions are indicators of the success of our strategy to operate as a large, integrated and unified health system focused on greater productivity and care redesign,” said Kedrick Adkins, President, Integrated Services, Trinity Health. “A strong balance sheet gives our geographically diverse organization the financial strength and the stability to be more responsive to major changes in a constantly evolving industry.”

Trinity Health is the fourth-largest Catholic health care system in the country. Based in Novi, Mich., Trinity Health operates 43 acute-care hospitals, 379 outpatient facilities, 26 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs based in seven core states. Employing 44,000 full-time staff, Trinity Health reported $6.1 billion in unrestricted revenue and $323.0 million in community benefit ministry in fiscal year 2007. For more information about Trinity Health, visit www.trinity-health.org.