A credit rating agency is taking a slightly dimmer outlook on the long-term health of Greater Baltimore Medical Center, or GBMC.

Last week, GBMC saw its rating slip from A to A-, according to a notice from S&P Global Ratings.

“The downgrade reflects GBMC’s ongoing operating losses and weakened cash flow, which we expect will persist over the next several years,” an analyst for S&P said.

GBMC is part of GBMC HealthCare, a Towson-based health care system that includes the 275-bed hospital, GBMC Health Partners and Gilchrist, which provides end-of-life and hospice services.

In fiscal year 2024, GBMC had $716 million in total operating revenue and $7.9 million in operating losses. The prior year, GBMC had an operating loss of more than $44 million.

“Like many institutions, continued COVID-19 recovery, rising labor costs and inflationary pressures play a role in our balance sheet,” spokesperson Krystina Wales said in an email.

Wales said the rating “reflects our recent infrastructure investments, completed in November 2024, which set the stage for a bright future.”

“Those investments consider community needs and have enabled us to build capacity in key areas,” she said.

The credit downgrade comes as some Maryland hospitals have been asking the state to adjust its unique price control system that regulates how much they charge for different procedures.

This system — which has saved more than $1 billion in patient care over the past decade — is now on the verge of crisis, according to executives at Johns Hopkins Health System, the University of Maryland Medical System and Luminis Health.

Tweaks to the system would likely mean higher bills for patients and their insurers, but the hospitals say it’s needed to care for an aging population with expensive treatments and to address Maryland’s overwhelmed emergency rooms.

Banner reporter Meredith Cohn contributed to this article.