Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) to 'A+' from 'A' on the Illinois Finance Authority's series 2008A and 2008B fixed-rate bonds, issued for Ann&Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (Lurie Children's, formerly Children's Memorial Hospital). Assured Guaranty Ltd. insures the series 2008A bonds. Children's Hospital of Chicago Medical Center (CHCMC) is the parent organization for the overall system. We raised the ratings based on the U.S. Not-For-Profit Acute-Care Stand-Alone Hospitals criteria, published on Dec. 15, 2014. The raised ratings are also supported by the continued improvement in balance sheet metrics, lower debt levels (partly due to repayment of debt during the past year), incremental improvement in unrestricted reserves, and ongoing
