DALLAS – Bracewell LLP served as bondholders counsel in the landmark $80 million offering of unrated tax-exempt bonds for Sage Memorial Hospital, a transaction that has been honored with The Bond Buyer’s 2025 Deal of the Year award.
The transaction, facilitated through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority, recapitalized the construction of a replacement hospital and expanded outpatient clinic and essential workforce housing for the Navajo community in Ganado, Arizona. This innovative financing restores local access to critical healthcare services, including surgery, dialysis, intensive care, and labor and delivery, while overcoming structural barriers on reservation land to deliver long-term, community-centered care.
Bracewell’s team provided strategic counsel to bondholders, ensuring the transaction’s structure protected investor interests and supported the hospital’s mission. The deal leveraged Sage Memorial Hospital’s status as a tribal contractor to pledge non-traditional revenue agreements alongside net patient revenues, opening a replicable path to market for other indigenous health systems seeking access to capital.
The transaction not only advances Native American healthcare infrastructure but also sets a precedent for creative, community-driven municipal finance solutions.
Bracewell lawyers involved in the transaction include:
Partners: Jonathan C. Leatherberry and Christie L. Latimer
