Hackensack University Medical Center Receives its First Standard & Poor's Credit Rating: A-/Positive Rating

HACKENSACK, N.J., Aug. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hackensack University Medical Center is proud to announce that it has received an 'A-'credit rating with a positive outlook by Standard & Poor's, the world's leading credit ratings agency. This is the first time the medical center has received a rating from this financial services organization.

"This Standard & Poor's 'A-' rating is truly reflective of both our current strong financial position and achievements, but also speaks to the strength of our future at HackensackUMC," said Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack University Health Network. "We have worked hard to ensure that our medical center is in an optimal position for continued growth and success and this rating is an endorsement of our strategies."

Standard & Poor's based the rating on HackensackUMC's:

• Leading market share as a tertiary care provider in affluent and densely populated Bergen County;
• Multiyear trend of improved and sustained earnings and cash flow;
• Focused management team, which is implementing HackensackUMC's strategic plans judiciously by minimizing the use of financial resources and by making efforts to work more closely with its medical staff, area physicians, and other health care providers; and
• Overall financial metrics that are adequate for the rating level, although still somewhat low compared with medians for an 'A' rated health care provider.

"We are proud to receive this rating from Standard & Poor's," said Robert L. Glenning, executive vice president and chief financial officer of HackensackUMC. "We remain committed to securing the future of this 124-year old medical center through various efforts, such as strategic clinical affiliations, physician alliances and an increase in physician staffing, and our joint venture partnerships with LHP."

According to Standard & Poor's, "HackensackUMC's credit profile has continued to improve under a new leadership team and based on a recently completed strategic planning process the organization has identified growth and medical education as priorities. Generating almost $1.2 billion of net patient service revenue in 2011, HackensackUMC posted $31 million of operating income (2.4% margin), which was comparable with the 2010 level. Management indicates that the improvement is due to strong expense control. The positive outlook reflects our opinion that if HackensackUMC's financial profile continues to improve, and as long as there are no material negative changes in HackensackUMC's market position or strategies, we could raise the rating to 'A' within the two-year time frame of our outlook period."

About Hackensack University Medical Center
HackensackUMC, a non-profit teaching and research hospital located in Bergen County, New Jersey, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in the state, and home to the only Level II Trauma Center in the county. This 775-bed facility has gone beyond traditional thinking by creating an entire campus of care, including: the Heart & Vascular Hospital, the John Theurer Cancer Center, the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital, and the Donna A. Sanzari Women's Hospital. As a result of using science and creativity to push medicine further, HackensackUMC was listed as the number one hospital in New Jersey and one of the top four New York metro area hospitals by the U.S. News & World Report, and has received nine national rankings by in: Cancer; Cardiology & Heart Surgery; Ear, Nose & Throat; Gastroenterology; Geriatrics; Neurology & Neurosurgery; Orthopedics; Urology; and the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital ranked as one of the Top 25 Best Children's Hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in the 2012-13 Best Children's Hospitals list. The medical center has also been named one of the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals® and one of America's 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades®. It is listed among the Leapfrog Top Hospitals List, received 17 Gold Seals of Approval™ by the Joint Commission, and is listed as one of the 50 Best Hospitals in America by Becker's Hospital Review. It was first hospital in New Jersey and second in the nation to become a Magnet® recognized hospital for nursing excellence. The medical center is the hometown hospital of the New York Giants, and remains committed to its community through fundraising and community events. To learn more about one of the nation's 50 best hospitals, visit: www.HackensackUMC.org.   

SOURCE Hackensack University Medical Center