NY -- Standard & Poor's CreditWire 7/17/98 û Standard & Poor's today lowered its ratings on debt issued for Allegheny Health and Educational Research Foundation (AHERF) and its rated subsidiaries (see list below). All ratings remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed June 29, 1998. AHERF and its subsidiaries are structured into five separate obligated groups which effectively partition its credit. The parent, AHERF, and the physician subsidiary, Allegheny University Medical Practices, are not part of any of the obligated groups. The long-term ratings downgrade for Graduate Hospital Obligated Group (now known as Allegheny Centennial) and Allegheny Hospital New Jersey (formerly known as Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital) is due to: -- A complete failure of AHERF's eastern region
