State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski named Geisinger, The Wright Center and Tenor Health as the frontrunners in the monthslong fight to save Community Health Systems’ Scranton hospitals.
Kosierowski (D-Waverly) hopes Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital will be under new ownership by mid-July.
“We are very supportive of whoever continues to keep the doors open and those service lines open,” she said Friday.
For-profit Community Health Systems, a Tennessee-based company operating locally as Commonwealth Health System (CHS), has been looking to sell the facilities amid years of financial losses.
CHS offered no information on the status of talks.
“There are no new updates to share at this time,” said Annmarie Poslock, a spokesperson for Commonwealth Health. “Our provider team remains fully committed to delivering safe, high-quality care to every patient as we continue to work closely with elected officials and other stakeholders to determine the future of the hospital(s). We appreciate the dedication of our employees and providers, whose unwavering efforts ensure our patients continue to receive the care they need.”
Potential buyers of Scranton hospitals
Other organizations, including Allied Services, Jefferson Health and Guthrie, were contenders to purchase the hospitals, but Kosierowski said they’ve since backed away.
• The Wright Center did not confirm or deny being a potential buyer.
“The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education remain committed to the delivery of health care services in Northeast Pennsylvania … We continue to be involved in conversations with community partners on ways to work together to expand access to critically important health care services while training the next generation of health care professionals, ensuring that care remains right here in our community,” Brian Ebersole, vice president of academic affairs for The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, said in a statement.
A spokesperson declined to elaborate on The Wright Center’s level of involvement in a separate communication.
• Geisinger alluded to its involvement in the negotiations but did not confirm its status as a potential buyer.
“Geisinger is working with the state and community leaders to explore all options to preserve access to high-quality health care services for the people of Scranton and Lackawanna County … As we work to provide short-term solutions for any capacity challenges we might face, we continue to explore viable long-term solutions to provide the care Scranton and the region need,” a Geisinger spokesperson said in a statement.
• Tenor Health Foundation “was formed to identify, own, manage, and turn around financially challenged hospitals,” according to its website.
The California-based nonprofit recently purchased and reopened Sharon Medical Center in Mercer County, which closed in January after its former owners filed for bankruptcy.
“We are always looking for opportunities for acquisitions that make sense for us and our growth strategies; however we cannot comment specifically on any particular acquisition at this time,” Tenor Health founder and CEO Radha Savitala said in a statement.
Months of turmoil following failed sale of CHS’s Scranton hospitals
A $120 million deal between Community Health Systems and Woodbridge Healthcare to sell the Scranton hospitals and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital fell through in November, starting a months of negotiations to keep the hospitals’ doors open and find a new buyer.
Regional and Moses Taylor operate under one license. CHS consolidated the emergency rooms at the Scranton facilities into one in 2023, effectively closing Moses Taylor’s ER operations.
Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski said in December that its other remaining facility in the region, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, would remain under CHS’ ownership.
Officials earlier this year confirmed that multiple potential non-profit new owners have shown interest in buying the two Scranton hospitals, but did not reveal their identities at that time.
Kosierowski said the state stepped in to ensure the hospitals had enough money to keep doors open after the deal fell through.
“Since last November, the Shapiro Administration has been actively involved in keeping these facilities open and we are continuing to work closely with members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania delegation, local partners, and stakeholders in the greater Scranton community to find a long-term solution for Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital," said Gov. Josh Shapiro's spokesman Manuel Bonder in a statement. "The Shapiro Administration is committed to supporting a community-led solution that both maintains access to local health care services and protects the dedicated staff at both hospitals.”
Hopes for Scranton hospitals’ futures
Kosierowski wants any new owner to prioritize the local workforce and fill in gaps left by CHS.
“[We’re asking them to] protect the workforce, first and foremost, hopefully work with the union contracts that are existing now, continue to recruit and retain better qualified specialties and improve the deferred maintenance of the building that unfortunately happened under CHS’s ownership,” Kosierowski said.
She said failing to sell the hospitals would be detrimental to the region’s healthcare and hopes to see an ownership change within the next month or so.
“The closure of CHS is not acceptable to our community or to the leadership here and in this valley,” Kosierowski said. “The services they provide will force patients in medical crisis to travel 70 to 85 miles for emergency care. When you're in an emergency, you need to have access quickly. It [would be] a huge loss, catastrophic loss, and people will die. People will lose their lives as this hospital closes, especially the most vulnerable, [like] pregnant moms, people in cardiac crisis and people that need ER care.”
