Table of Contents
- Key Takeaways
- 2018 vs. 2017
- Broad Trends: Small Hospitals vs. Stand-Alone Hospitals
- Small Hospitals Skewed Toward The Lower Portion Of The Rating Spectrum
- Rating And Outlook Distribution
- Ratio Analysis
- Related Research
Key Takeaways
- Small hospitals’ ratings are skewed toward the lower end of the spectrum compared to all stand-alone hospitals given inherent risks associated with small hospitals, including small medical staffs and often small and narrow-based economies.
- The outlook distribution for small hospitals is consistent with the outlook distribution for the overall stand-alone sample.
- Compared to 2017, 2018 individual rating level results for the small hospital sample vary by rating level with a combination of improvement and declines.
- Compared to the broad stand-alone universe, balance sheet metrics including days’ cash on hand, unrestricted reserves to long term debt and leverage, are significantly better. Operating margins; however, vary by rating category. Generally, small hospitals need to have stronger financial metrics than their larger stand-alone counterparts to achieve comparable ratings.