Standard&Poor's Ratings Services equalizes its rating on French public hospital Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP) with its long-term sovereign rating on France (AA/Stable/A-1+, unsolicited). This reflects our view that there is an "almost certain" likelihood that the French state would provide timely and sufficient extraordinary financial support to AP-HP in the event of financial distress. We consider AP-HP to be a government-related entity (GRE). Under our criteria for rating GREs, we base our rating approach on our view of AP-HP's: "Critical role" for the French state, given AP-HP's unique position in the French health care system as the country's (and Europe's) largest hospital and university medical center and its flagship center for medical research and publications.
