OREANDA-NEWS. January 26, 2016. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'F1+' rating on the following outstanding variable rate debt issued by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission on behalf of Cone Health:

--\\$47,500,000 hospital revenue bonds series 2004A;
--\\$47,885,000 hospital revenue bonds series 2011B.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

SOLID CREDIT PROFILE: Fitch rates Cone Health's long-term obligations at 'AA' with a Stable Outlook. The long-term rating reflects Cone Health's dominant market position, solid liquidity and adequate profitability metrics. The organization's coverage continues to be strong due to its moderate debt burden.

LIQUID RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR UNREMARKETED PUTS: The 'F1+' rating reflects the adequacy of Cone Health's eligible cash, investments, and dedicated lines of credit to fund any un-remarketed puts on its variable rate demand bonds. Such resources include cash; highly liquid, highly rated investments; and dedicated bank liquidity facilities. Investments are discounted based on Fitch's criteria. At Sept. 30, 2015 Cone Health maintained highly liquid resources to cover maximum mandatory put exposure on any given date in excess of Fitch's criteria of 1.25x

RATING SENSITIVITIES

MAINTENANCE OF ADEQUATE LIQUDITY: Fitch expects Cone Health to maintain adequate internal liquid resources to cover its total put exposure in excess of 1.25x to maintain the 'F1+' short-term rating.

CREDIT PROFILE

Cone Health is a nonprofit, integrated healthcare system headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, operating four acute care and two specialty hospitals, with total revenues of \\$1.54 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2015 (unaudited).

'F1+' SHORT-TERM LIQUIDITY RATING

The 'F1+' rating reflects the adequacy of Cone Health's eligible cash, investments, and dedicated lines of credit to fund any un-remarketed puts on its variable rate demand bonds. At Sept. 30, 2015, Cone Health had \\$286.3 million of highly liquid, unrestricted cash and fixed income securities, and dedicated working capital lines available. Cone Health's eligible liquid resources available to its maximum tender exposure in any given week exceeds Fitch's 'F1+' threshold of 1.25x. Fitch received a written internal procedures letter from the organization, which outlines internal policies to meet any funding requirements.

For more information on Cone Health, see Fitch's press release 'Fitch Affirms Cone Health (NC) 2015 Revs 'AA', Outlook Stable', dated Jan. 22, 2015 available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.