SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 19, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA' rating to Ascension Health's $940.635 million in revenue bonds (various series and issuers). At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'AA' long-term rating and its 'AA' underlying rating (SPUR) on roughly $3.3 billion in outstanding revenue bonds, as well as the 'AA-' long-term rating on Ascension's $612 million series 2005A subordinated revenue bonds. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its 'A-1+' short-term rating on Ascension's CP program and on its various variable-rate demand bonds (VRDBs). The outlook is stable. "Ascension Health has a stable overall operating profile, with strong cash flow and sizable unrestricted reserves," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Lisa Zuckerman. "While
