Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BBB-' rating on Ward County, N.D.'s series 1996B and series 2006 revenue bonds, issued for Trinity Health. The outlook remains negative. The negative outlook reflects our view of Trinity Health's weak adjusted operations and a potential material issuance of debt to fund a replacement hospital. The balance sheet improved dramatically in fiscal 2014, with the hospital's unrestricted reserves increasing $45 million because of cash received from a lawsuit settlement with its previous patient accounting system provider. Likewise, the hospital ended unaudited fiscal 2014 with a significant, $44 million surplus (10% operating margin) because of the lawsuit settlement. Adjusting for one-time items, we believe operations have actually decreased over the past year from break
