NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 21, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc.'s proposed $1.7 billion senior secured term loan E a 'BB' issue-level rating, with a recovery rating of '1', indicating our expectation for very high (90% to 100%) recovery of principal in the event of default. This incremental term loan is part of the total financing package the company will use to acquire Naples-based Health Management Associates (HMA). The total size of the transaction has only negligibly changed. We originally assigned ratings to the proposed debt on Jan. 7, 2014. New amounts for the proposed debt are reflected in the ratings list. RELATED CRITERIA Methodology And Assumptions: Liquidity Descriptors
