Cooper University Health Care earned an A+ credit rating from Fitch Ratings (Fitch), an award-winning credit rating agency. This follows two credit upgrades from S&P Global and Moody’s since 2022. This new credit rating represents a double, or two-level, upgrade over Cooper’s 2022 rating.
“This A+ rating marks a remarkable turnaround for Cooper University Health Care from near bankruptcy at the turn of the century to today’s strong financial position,” said George E. Norcross, III, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cooper University Health Care. “This achievement is a testament to the commitment of the thousands of Cooper team members committed to our mission.”
Fitch stated, “The A+ rating reflects Cooper’s very strong liquidity position, which has nearly doubled over the last five years, driven by a five-year trend of solid operating performance.” The rating agency added, “Despite Fitch’s expectation for elevated capital spend over the five-year forward look, Fitch believes that Cooper will continue to generate strong ongoing cash flow. . .”
“Over the past five years, Cooper has evolved into an elite, nationally recognized academic health system with active patients from all 50 state and more than 35 countries. Fitch’s A+ rating validates Cooper’s financial strength, prudent growth strategies, and the tremendous work by Cooper’s dedicated team members who tirelessly serve our patients, their families, and each other, leading to our tremendous success in providing advanced care to the communities we serve,” said Kevin O’Dowd, co-CEO of Cooper University Health Care.
The rating agency added: “Cooper’s market presence and clinical growth is also supported by years of successful physician recruitment efforts … Fitch believes that these efforts, along with additional growth initiatives in the PSA and SSA, will continue to support strong volume growth, which exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 2023.”
“Fitch’s rating is another indicator that our focus on becoming an exceptional academic health system by managing our finances in a way that allows us to continue to grow to meet increasing demand from patients seeking the higher level of care our experts provide is the correct strategy,” said Anthony Mazzarelli, co-CEO of Cooper University Health Care.
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