Fitch Confirms SSM Health Care at 'AA-'; Assigns 'F1+' Short-Term Rating

Business Wire, May 12, 2008

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings confirms the long-term 'AA-' rating and assigns a short-term rating of 'F1 ' to the $222,225,000 Health and Educational Facilities Authority of the State of Missouri health facilities revenue bonds (SSM Health Care), consisting of $86,100,000 Series C-3, $60,000,000 Series C-5 and $76,125,000 Series D-4.

On May 15, 2008, the ratings will be revised on all three series of bonds in connection with the reoffering of the bonds in a weekly interest rate mode, a release of the Financial Guaranty Insurance Policy (FGIC) currently supporting the bonds, and the provision of standby bond purchase agreements (SBPAs) for each series of bonds, as follows: UBS AG, acting through its Stamford Branch, for the Series C-3 bonds; U.S. Bank, N.A. for the Series C-5 bonds; and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. for the Series D-4 bonds. Upon the reoffering, the long-term 'AA-' rating will be based on the long-term rating that Fitch assigns to SSM Healthcare, and the short-term 'F1 ' ratings will be based on the liquidity support provided by the SBPAs. Following reoffering, the remarketing agent for the Series C-5 & D-4 bonds will be Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. and for the Series C-3 bonds, UBS Securities, LLC.

While bonds bear interest in the weekly mode, interest is payable on the first business day of each month, commencing June 2, 2008. Each SBPA will provide for the payment of the purchase price of tendered bonds in the weekly interest rate mode, and will be sized to cover the principal portion of the purchase price and 34 days of interest, at the maximum interest rate of 12%, based upon a year of 365 days. The ratings for each series of bonds will expire on the stated expiration date of the SBPA supporting such series, unless such date is extended, or upon the occurrence of certain events of termination as specified in the SBPAs, as follows: May 14, 2010 for the Series C-3 bonds; May 15, 2011 for the Series C-5 bonds and D-4 bonds.

Each series of bonds may be converted to a daily, short-term, long-term, indexed put, auction or fixed rate mode. During the weekly and daily rate modes, holders have the option to tender their bonds on any business day, following required notice to the tender agent. The bonds are subject to mandatory tender as follows: (1) on each interest rate conversion date; (2) on the first day after the end of each long- or short-term interest rate period; and (3) five days prior to the expiration or termination date and on the substitution date of an SBPA. Optional and mandatory redemption provisions also apply to the bonds pursuant to the terms of the documents.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.