Fitch Affirms St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's (Tennessee) Revs at 'AA+'

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'AA+' rating on Shelby County Health,
Educational, and Housing Facility Board, Tennessee's approximately $239 million
in revenue bonds issued on behalf of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (St.
Jude). The outstanding revenue bonds are guaranteed by American Lebanese Syrian
Associated Charities (ALSAC), the hospital's affiliated support organization.
The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The 'AA+' rating mainly reflects the guarantee of the debt service by ALSAC and
the historically stable and robust fundraising efforts by the organization. As
of Nov. 30 2008, the consolidated entity (St. Jude/ALSAC) had approximately $925
million of unrestricted cash and investments translating into high liquidity
ratios of 513.4 days cash on hand and 365.9% cash to debt ratios (relative to
fiscal 2008 expenses and debt) compared to Fitch's category medians of 246.4
days and 162.9%, respectively.

Cash and investments are down from June 30, 2008 (fiscal year-end) level of
approximately $1.2 billion due to significant investment losses. Fundraising has
remained strong in light of the current recession with ALSAC raising $107
million net of fundraising expenses through the first four months of fiscal
2009, compared to $100 million in prior year. For fiscal 2008 fundraising
generated $543 million (net of expenses) compared to $493 million in fiscal 2007
and $423 million in fiscal 2006. Fundraising efforts normally cover a
significant portion of the hospital's operations and the foundation's general
administrative costs, which totaled approximately $600 million in fiscal 2008.
The balance of the expenses is covered by patient revenues, investment gains,
and research grants, with each source averaging annually $70 million, $148
million, and $68 million, respectively, over the last three fiscal years. The
high reliance on fundraising and investment income is somewhat of a credit
concern.

The Stable Outlook takes into account St. Jude/ALSAC's history of strong
fundraising as well as its sizable liquidity position, despite the significant
year-to-date investment losses. Additionally attributing to the Outlook is St.
Jude's young age of plant (7.4 years in fiscal 2008) and low debt burden (debt
to capitalization ratio of 14.7% in fiscal 2008) coupled with no reported plans
to issue additional debt.

St. Jude is a 78-licensed bed pediatric specialty hospital (with associated
outpatient clinics and other facilities). St. Jude is located in Memphis,
Tennessee and is the only NCI designated cancer center devoted solely to
children. ALSAC's sole purpose is to raise funds for the maintenance and
operation of St. Jude and its total assets were $1.7 billion as of Oct. 31,
2008. ALSAC's target investment allocation calls for 38% in equities, 49.5% in
alternative and real assets, and 12.5% in fixed income. St. Jude posts its
audited annual financial statements and unaudited quarterly financial statements
onto the Nationally Recognized Municipal Securities Information Repositories.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on
the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and
methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of
conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance
and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of
Conduct' section of this site.

Fitch Ratings, New York
Alex Bumazhny, CFA, 212-908-0341
Douglas J. Kilcommons, 212-908-0740
or
Media Relations:
Cindy Stoller, 212-908-0526
Email: cindy.stoller@fitchratings.com

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