FITNESSFIRST IS FIRST TO USE AUTHORITY'S
REVAMPED EQUIPMENT REVENUE NOTE PROGRAM;
GETS FAST ACCESS $1 MILLION+

(Trenton)  Today, the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority issued its first series through the revamped Equipment Revenue Note ("ERN") Program. Using this easy and cost-effective method, the Authority and Banc of America made available to FITNESSFirst, $1,376,000 through a process that took just 45 days and resulted in a low fixed interest rate of 3.92%.

Staff remodeled the ERN Program to reduce issuance time for smaller equipment financing and/or refinancing projects in response to a recommendation by the Authority's CFO advisory panel. After months of designing and tweaking, the ERN Program has emerged as the Authority's most efficient vehicle for smaller projects.

While a traditional stand-alone bond issue or private placement can require up to three months or more, the ERN Program allows qualifying projects to access up to $15 million in capital in as little as six weeks from the issue's inception. "The financing was fast and efficient," said Greg Adams, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Holy Name Hospital. "Since the majority of the paperwork is standardized and pre-approved, we simply had to negotiate the terms with our bank."

Also, once the borrower has completed a transaction through the ERN Program, the borrower can issue additional notes under those documents so that multiple equipment financings can occur without significant drafting time. 

Banc of America Public Capital Corp, with whom this issue was privately placed, worked closely with the Authority to streamline the financing process, even reworking their loan documents to conform to the Authority's policies and procedures.  "The ability to obtain tax exempt financing this way was very beneficial to our facility," added Mr. Adams.

FITNESSFirst Oradell Center is a limited liability company, the sole member of which is Holy Name Hospital, a 361-bed acute care medical center that provides a high quality care in Teaneck. Holy Name Hospital's FITNESSFirst is a medically-based fitness center with sessions targeted to individuals with specific health conditions, such as diabetes or cardiac or joint diseases, and Hospital/Physician partnerships, which ensure that an individual works within the context of his/her own health history and physician recommendations. 

The Authority is the primary issuer of municipal bonds for New Jersey's health care organizations. Created in 1972 by an act of the Legislature to provide not-for-profit health care providers with access to low-cost capital, the Authority's statutory powers were expanded in 1998 to include financing for all health care organizations or components thereof. During its 35- year history, the Authority has issued over $13 billion in bonds on behalf of over 140 health care organizations throughout the state.

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