Holley & Pearson-Farrer LLP served as disclosure counsel to Chatham County, Georgia and the Chatham County Hospital Authority in connection with the issuance of $163.9 million in a tax-exempt issue of refunding and improvement revenue bonds to benefit Memorial Health University Medical Center (Memorial Health).
Memorial Health is a 501(c)(3)-exempt healthcare organization located in Savannah that operated a 530-bed academic medical center serving as a regional referral center for cardiac care, cancer care, trauma, pediatrics, high-risk obstetrics, and neonatology. The hospital served a 35-county area in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina as the region’s only Level 1 trauma center and children’s hospital.
The proceeds of the bonds were loaned to Memorial Health and other members of its obligated group to refund certain bonds previously issued on the hospital’s behalf and to finance the construction and equipping of improvements to the Memorial Health Children’s Hospital and the expansion, renovation, and equipping of operating rooms and other facilities for Memorial Health.
The bonds were backed by a security interest in certain revenues of Memorial Hospital. The bonds were further secured by an intergovernmental agreement between Chatham County and the Chatham County Hospital Authority, pursuant to which Chatham County agreed to levy ad valorem taxes on taxable property within the county sufficient to pay debt service on the bonds. However, pursuant to the Georgia Hospital Authorities Law, Chatham County’s tax levying authorization was limited to seven mills, creating certain risks for bondholders.
In consideration of those and other bondholders’ risks, in our role as disclosure counsel, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the finances, operations, and debt obligations of Chatham County, the Chatham County Hospital Authority, and the Memorial Health obligated group and ensured that we properly drafted the official statement to present accurate, complete, and appropriate disclosure to prospective investors.
Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah, Georgia