FRANKLIN (AP) - Hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc. said that its subsidiary CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc. will issue $750 million in senior notes to pay down existing debt and raise money for general corporate purposes.

The company said Wednesday it will use money from the new senior notes to pay off existing debt through a tender offer. The firm announced the tender offer Wednesday for up to $700 million of its 8.875 percent senior notes due 2015. The company said the tender offer will close at on April 4, although that date could be extended or amended.

The tender offer could potentially wipe out a little less than half of Community Health Systems' $1.8 billion in total debt under the 8.875 percent senior notes.

Community Health Systems is one of the biggest publicly traded hospital companies in the United States. It owns, leases or operates 134 hospitals in 29 states with a total of about 20,000 licensed beds.

Shares of the company rose 81 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $24.11 in afternoon trading.