Fitch Affirms El Paso County Hospital District, TX's GOs at 'AA'; Outlook Stable - MarketWatch

In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings affirms the following El Paso County Hospital District, TX (the district) debt ratings:
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The El Paso County Hospital District covers a very large area, totaling 1,058 square miles, and operates the only public hospital located in its primary service area. The UMC has a legal responsibility to provide medical and hospital care to all El Paso County residents regardless of their ability to pay. As a result, the district's Medicaid and self-pay component are very large at about 23% and 21%, respectively, in fiscal 2010. The hospital also serves as the primary teaching hospital for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, which became a full four-year medical school in 2009. The university's $100 million medical school is adjacent to the hospital as is the children's hospital currently under construction and scheduled to open in February 2012.