Franklin, Tenn.-based acute-care hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc. reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter results, highlighted by declining patient volumes, the impact from hurricanes in key markets, and declining margins. Despite disappointing results, we see a path to stabilizing margins, based on the completion of the company's most recent divestiture plan, the temporary nature of the impact from the hurricanes, the anticipated additional divestitures, and a renewed focus on local market initiatives. We affirmed our ratings on the company, including the 'B-' corporate credit rating. The outlook remains stable. The stable outlook reflects our expectations that margins will stabilize and show limited improvement as the company divests underperforming hospitals. However, leverage will remain high and cash flow is only minimally positive over
