Moody's Investors Service analyst Dean Diaz says Community Health Systems is primed to continue on its path of acquiring struggling facilities and then investing in upgrades. The overhang of government investigations, he says in lifting the company's outlook to 'stable' from 'negative,' won't impact the company's day-to-day business.

[S]upporting the rating is Moody's acknowledgement of Community Health's scale and market strength, which should help the company weather unfavorable trends in bad debt expense and weak volumes that continue to affect the industry as a whole. Moody's anticipates that the company will continue to see stable margin performance and maintain very good liquidity.