Officials at Boca Raton Regional Hospital today announced that Fitch Ratings
has affirmed the Hospital’s Investment Grade credit rating of BBB-,
while concurrently upgrading the organization’s rating outlook from
Stable to Positive.
“We are extremely gratified to see our efforts recognized in such
a meaningful way,” said Jerry Fedele, President and CEO at Boca
Regional. “Fitch’s latest rating and improved outlook is reflective
of the substantive progress we have made in a host of operational areas
over the course of the last 18 months.”
In Fitch’s analysis, which was released on February 14, the rating
agency cited a number of key factors that drove their conclusions. Included were:
- An improving financial profile that showed the Hospital posting a positive
operating margin for Fiscal Year 2013 and an increase in net patient service
revenue of 8.3 percent.
- Strong physician recruitment that has resulted in a net gain of 27 physicians
since 2012 in key service lines. In turn, this deeper physician base has
played an important role in the Hospital seeing its inpatient volume increase
by 5.3 percent in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2014.
- Exceedingly strong philanthropic support that resulted in gifts averaging
$28 million a year over the past three years.
The Fitch report also highlighted a number of other positive balance sheet
indices, as well as the Hospital’s strategic affiliations with the
North Shore-LIJ Health System and Moffitt Cancer Center as significant
factors in their determination.
Additionally, Fitch commented that should Boca Raton Regional Hospital
end Fiscal Year 2014 with a positive operating margin, an upgrade in its
credit rating would be likely.
“This achievement is a direct result of the determination and focus
our physicians, nurses, support staff and volunteers applied when we established
a challenging set of goals for them in Fiscal 2013,” said Fedele.
“It’s important to emphasize, however, that while we have
realized success financially, we have also provided a level of care that
continues to garner national accolades for its quality. I’m extremely
proud of our people in their ability to maintain that critically important
balance.”
Additional information is available at:www.fitchratings.com
About Boca Raton Regional Hospital – Advancing the boundaries of medicine.
Boca Raton Regional Hospital is an advanced, tertiary medical center (brrh.com) with 400 beds and more than 800 primary and specialty physicians on staff.
The Hospital is a recognized leader in oncology, cardiovascular disease
and surgery, minimally invasive surgery, orthopedics, women’s health,
emergency medicine and the neurosciences, all of which offer state-of-the-art
diagnostic and imaging capabilities. The Hospital is a designated Comprehensive
Stroke Center by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).
Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished
Hospital Award for Clinical ExcellenceTM for the tenth year in a row and
was named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals in 2011, 2012 and 2013,
both by Healthgrades®. Boca Raton Regional Hospital was also recognized
for the third consecutive year in
U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-2014 Best Hospitals listing as a top-ranked hospital in the South
Florida metropolitan area.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Thomas Chakurda, 561.955.3586
Vice President, Marketing
Boca Raton Regional Hospital
tchakurda@brrh.com