Kaiser Foundation Hospitals will draw on its full $2.4 billion line of credit to beef up its liquidity, according to a bondholder filing.
Kaiser joins healthcare organizations such as Trinity Health and Mayo Clinic in raising cash at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is draining healthcare resources.
Kaiser added in the filing that it has not changed its capital plan in a material fashion, but it is following national and international recommendations on dealing with COVID-19, such as limiting elective surgeries and increasing use of telehealth.
As of the end of 2019, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan had $15.6 billion in current assets and $904 million of that was in cash or cash equivalents.
The announcement was triggered in part to clarify its response following a conversation a regional Kaiser executive had with a representative of Barclays Equity Research, the filing states.
"During the course of the discussion, certain aspects of (Kaiser's) response within the San Jose/Santa Cruz region and beyond were discussed, but such discussion was not intended to be reflective of (Kaiser's) response within its national care delivery system or the potential impact to (Kaiser) as a whole," the filing said.
