NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 14, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Inc.'s proposed $1.0 billion senior unsecured notes due 2019 its 'B' issue-level rating (one notch lower than the 'B+' corporate credit rating on the company). We also assigned the notes a recovery rating of '5', indicating our expectation of modest (10% to 30%) recovery for lenders in the event of a payment default. The issuer of the notes is wholly owned subsidiary CHS/Community Health Systems Inc. The company plans to use note proceeds to refinance existing debt. The corporate credit rating on Community Health is 'B+' and the rating outlook is stable. The rating reflects our opinion that the company's highly
