CHICAGO (Standard&Poor's) March 24, 2015--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) to 'A+' from 'A' on the Illinois Finance Authority's series 2008A and 2008B fixed-rate bonds, issued for Ann&Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (Lurie Children's, formerly Children's Memorial Hospital). Assured Guaranty Ltd. insures the series 2008A bonds. Children's Hospital of Chicago Medical Center (CHCMC) is the parent organization for the overall system. "We raised the ratings based on the U.S. Not-For-Profit Acute-Care Stand-Alone Hospitals criteria, published on Dec. 15, 2014, as well as on our view of system's continued improvement in balance sheet metrics, lower debt levels, incremental improvement in unrestricted reserves, and ongoing solid cash flow that
