Kettering Health to get up to $250M in bonds

Bonds will fund Troy hospital, plus projects in three counties.

Kettering Health Network plans to take out up to $250 million in bonds.

The bonds issued to the Kettering-based health system will pay for its Troy hospital as well as projects in Greene, Montgomery and Warren counties.

Kettering Health’s new hospital will open in Troy in mid-2019, first billed as a $60 million project, though the square footage has since expanded.

Miami County commissioners approved issuing the bonds last week. Though Miami is issuing the bonds, the other counties still have to sign off.

With a bond, investors will lend money, and that money will flow to Kettering Health Network, which will use it to finance the Troy hospital and other projects.

Since Miami County is the one issuing the bonds to Kettering Health, this allows Kettering to get tax-exempt bonds. The county is not liable for any of the debt, and the process doesn’t cost the county any money, said Commissioner Jack Evans.

The bond money can be used to acquire, construct, improve and equip hospital facilities. Hospital networks routinely seek bond financing.

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Kettering Health has eight hospitals, along with a large network of physicians and outpatient sites. The nonprofit is one of the largest local employers, with the equivalent of 10,800 fulltime employees.

Kettering Health has an “A2” bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service, which means the ratings agency considers it a low risk for default. Moody’s stated in April that Kettering Health’s bond rating reflects the health network’s strong market position.

The ratings agency stated Kettering Health has a stable outlook and is expected to “continue to build market share, generate operating margins at least in-line with A2 medians and improve debt coverage and liquidity ratios.”

Kettering Health is in the midst of several new construction projects and recently completed several other large projects.

The Indu and Raj Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek will get a new $70 million, five-story tower in 2020. The network is also building a $30 million free-standing ER and medical center, which broke ground in Piqua earlier this month.

In September, the hospital opened its new cardiac care lab at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton as part of a $25 million expansion of the emergency department. This summer Kettering Health also opened a 67,000-square-foot medical center and emergency department in Middletown. 937 746 2975 . .