PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) March 29, 1999--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its triple-'A' long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings on Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP). The outlook is stable. The ratings reflect AP-HP's close financial ties with the French state; the establishment's importance in France and abroad; and stable revenues, primarily from the national social -security system. These factors enable AP-HP to maintain a healthy financial performance, characterized in part by limited debt. With 50 hospitals, accounting for more than 10% of the total hospital beds in France, AP-HP is the largest French and, indeed, European hospital complex. AP--HP hospitals, which are located mainly in Greater Paris, recorded a total of 1.1 million admissions and 7.9
