Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Mich., is considering the refinancing of $1.7 billion in debt, with $1.4 billion of that amount likely to take the form of taxable bonds.
The debt under consideration for refinancing represents about 22% of the system's $6.3 billion in total long-term debt.
The remaining $300 million in debt may or may not be issued as a tax-exempt security, but would be issued to cover the cost of the acquisition, construction, renovation and equipping of new and existing Trinity Health facilities or the refinancing of such expenditures, according to a municipal bond filing.
Not-for-profit hospitals typically borrow in the tax-exempt market but because of new refunding restrictions or depending on market conditions, they may elect to borrow in what is typically a higher cost environment.
In February, Trinity issued $383 million worth of tax-exempt fixed-rate hospital revenue with $78.9 million of that used for refunding of bonds. During the first nine months of fiscal 2019, which ended March 31, Trinity reported $14.3 billion in operating revenue and profit of $457.9 million, according to Modern Healthcare's financial database.
Earlier this month, Trinity and an anesthesia group reached a settlement following a contract dispute, reported Crain's Detroit Business.
In August, the system named Cassandra Willis-Abner as senior vice president of diversity and inclusion and chief experience officer; Marcus Shipley as Trinity's chief information officer and senior vice president of innovation; and Dr. Mouhanad Hammami its senior vice president of safety net transformation, community benefit, and community health and well-being.