Two months after Pennsylvania hospital closed, it has reopened

After closing its doors in early January, Sharon Regional Medical Center is open again.

The western Pennsylvania hospital opened its doors again Tuesday with a new operator, Tenor Health Foundation Sharon, LLC. Steward Health Care had owned the 163-bed medical center, but the for-profit company filed for bankruptcy last year and sold nearly all of its hospitals. Steward shuttered some facilities where the company said it couldn’t find a buyer.

Sharon Regional closed its doors Jan. 5, to the dismay of many in the community.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it approved the reopening of the medical center last week. Tenor will operate under Steward’s license but will seek to get its own license in the future, the health department said.

Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania’s health secretary, said in a statement that the facility can be safely reopened.

“The Department of Health’s top priority is patient safety at Sharon Regional and all other health care facilities across the Commonwealth,” Bogen said in a statement. “Dedicated DOH staff have spent extensive time and energy, working hundreds of hours, seven days a week to make certain that the hospital is in substantial compliance with regulatory standards.”

Bogen said she’s glad to see the region regain its hospital. “We are pleased Sharon Regional is once again able to offer medical services to people in their community,” Bogen said.

Local officials and community members gathered over the weekend to celebrate the reopening of the hospital. Pennsylvania State Sen. Michele Brooks, a Republican, posted on her Facebook page, “It was a full house today at Sharon Regional Medical Center as we came together to celebrate a new chapter for this local community hospital.”

Brooks also said that she was “forever Grateful to the staff at Sharon Regional for the dedication to your patients and community as you stood by this hospital.” She also thanked Tenor and state officials for working to make the reopening of the hospital a reality.

Tenor Health CEO Radha Savitala appeared at the event Sunday and hailed the reopening of the hospital, as WKBN-TV reported.

“Everyone’s impacted by the hospital, whether you work here or you’re a member of the community or you’ve gotten care here, and now you’re able to come back.”

Steward notified the Pennsylvania Department of Labor in December about its plans to close the facility, putting about 700 people out of work.

Pennsylvania state officials have been working to avert the closure of two other hospitals in the Philadelphia region.

On the other side of Pennsylvania, local officials feared that Crozer Health’s two hospitals in the Philadelphia suburbs would be closing this month, but a local organization, the Foundation for Delaware County, has agreed to keep them running for the near future. Prospect Medical Holdings, the for-profit company that owns Crozer Health, has filed for bankruptcy.

For much of the past year, Steward Health Care has been selling its hospitals around the country. 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.

The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings has fueled more criticism of private equity companies owning hospitals. A bipartisan Senate Budget Committee report blasted private equity ownership of hospitals, saying patients are taking a back seat to profits.