Pennsylvania hospital closes its doors, but hope persists for reprieve

After months of efforts to save the facility, the Sharon Regional Medical Center has closed its doors.

Sharon Regional Medical Center closed its doors over the weekend, but local officials are hoping someone else will take over the western Pennsylvania hospital.

The western Pennsylvania hospital shut down over the weekend. The hospital, which is licensed for 163 beds, closed its doors Sunday and is no longer accepting emergency patients, according to WKBN-TV and other media reports.

Steward Health Care, the owner of the medical center, said the hospital would close Jan. 6, but the facility shut down Sunday. A call to the facility goes to an answering service, which said the hospital is closed. Steward filed for bankruptcy last year and has been selling its facilities.

Tenor Health Services, a for-profit company in California, has reached an agreement to take over the facility, but the transaction requires bankruptcy court approval, according to the Sharon Herald. Attempts to reach Tenor Health Services have been unsuccessful.

Robert Fiscus, the city manager of Sharon, said in a statement sent to Chief Healthcare Executive® that the city is “deeply disappointed by the recent and unnecessary closure of Sharon Regional Medical Center.”

“While we recognize that the City and its partners are not the decision-makers in this matter, we have committed ourselves to advocating for accessible healthcare, the well-being of our dedicated healthcare professionals, and the stability of our local economy,” Fiscus said in the statement.

“We continue to lend our unwavering support to the organizations currently engaged in critical negotiations aimed at reopening the hospital,” he said. “We remain hopeful and optimistic that these efforts will ultimately succeed, and that our community will regain access to the essential healthcare services that are vital for all residents.”

Steward notified the Pennsylvania Department of Labor last month about its plans to close the facility, with about 700 people slated to lose their jobs.

Valeri Roth, chief of surgery for Sharon Regional, told WKBN that she hopes the closure will last at most two days, because the longer the facility is closed, it will be more difficult to reopen.

Yates Medical Group, a faith-based healthcare organization, has also expressed interest in acquiring Sharon Regional Medical Center. In a news release last week, the group said that it has been trying to purchase the hospital since June 2024. Yates says it has experience in reviving struggling hospitals and would make sufficient investments to improve patient care.

Local residents and supporters gathered outside the hospital last Thursday in a rally to save the medical center and keep the doors open.

Steward Health Care has been selling its hospitals around the country after filing for bankruptcy in May. In the third quarter of 2024, Steward completed deals to sell 11 of its hospitals.

Two Massachusetts hospitals formerly owned by Steward - Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center - closed their doors in September.