A group of community organizations in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties has contributed "millions of dollars" in recent months to help keep Community Health Systems’ struggling Scranton hospitals afloat while talks to find a buyer continue.
Participating in the funding arrangement are The Scranton Area Community Foundation, AllOne Foundation & Charities, Luzerne Foundation, Moses Taylor Foundation, NEPA Health Care Foundation, Allied Services, The Wright Center, and the Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
In a statement, Laura Ducceschi, president and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, said the groups and others are working together to keep Regional Hospital and its Moses Taylor campus operating "while a long-term resolution is pursued."
"To that end, we have made significant investments in recent months to help keep the doors open and the existing workforce in place in hopes that a permanent resolution can be reached," Ducceschi said.
The payments began in April.
Charlie Lyons, a spokesperson for the organizations, said they were not ready to say exactly how much they spent, but Ducceschi said the groups "have invested millions of dollars."
The money went "to sustain the salaries of hospital healthcare workers who have served our community for decades, preserving critical medical expertise in our region," she said.
"The investment was intended to provide CHS with additional time to try to find a permanent solution," Ducceschi said.
A failed sale and years of losses
For-profit and Tennessee-based CHS, operating locally as Commonwealth Health System, had a buyer for the hospitals last year.
Last July, CHS announced a plan to sell Moses Taylor Hospital, Regional Hospital of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital to WoodBridge Healthcare, a Bucks County-based nonprofit.
The proposed $120 million sale collapsed in November after WoodBridge could not secure financing. That kicked off months of negotiations to keep the hospitals open and find a new buyer.
In December, state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski said CHS would keep Wilkes-Barre General. A company spokeswoman would not specifically confirm that when asked this week.
Either way, public discussion of sale talks since has focused only on the two Scranton hospitals.
Regional and Moses Taylor operate under one license. CHS consolidated the emergency rooms at the Scranton facilities in 2023, closing Moses Taylor’s ER.
The three hospitals have mostly lost money in recent years, including fiscal 2023, according to the most recent Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report available.
Expenses that year outpaced revenues by 24.1% at Moses Taylor; 9.5% at Regional and 15.7% at Wilkes-Barre General, according to the report.
State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna, said last month that Geisinger, The Wright Center and Tenor Health were the frontrunners to buy the Scranton hospitals, but none of those organizations would confirm that.
Kosierowski was in session this week at the State Capitol in Harrisburg and could not immediately be reached for an update on the status of sale talks.
Shapiro Administration stepped in
Top state officials helped broker the payment arrangement as efforts to find a buyer dragged on.
Ducceschi said the plan "came out of ongoing discussions facilitated by the Shapiro administration that began last fall, which included the community partners and local legislators, when it became clear that investments were needed to forestall an imminent closure of the hospitals."
Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Gov. Josh Shapiro, confirmed the involvement of "senior administration officials" in arranging the temporary funding.
"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 government, local partners, and stakeholders in the greater Scranton community to find a long-term solution for Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital," Bonder said.
CHS silent on payments
A CHS spokeswoman would not specifically confirm the payment arrangement when WVIA News asked about it this week.
"We remain engaged with state leaders around the future of Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital and the potential of transitioning those hospitals to a new owner," CHS spokeswoman Tomi Galin wrote in an email.
"If there is an update related to that, we'll certainly let you know. In the meantime, we appreciate the caregivers at these hospitals who continue to deliver high quality care for their patients," Galin said.
Foundations' aid critical to survival
Lyons and Ducceschi said the community groups couldn't say how long they can continue subsidizing the hospitals' losses.
"We have no information at the moment regarding future payments," Ducceschi said.
What is clear is that their contributions have been vital, and officials expect they could be even after a sale.
“The foundations are the reason the hospital is open up to today, because they've been so generous, making sure that they're paying the projected loss that CHS has every month and making sure that payroll is met,” Kosierowski said in a recent interview.
“The state has also put money forth to keep the doors open in terms of expediting Medicaid payments, so that the hospital had money. Once the new owner comes in, there's going to be a lot of money they’re going to need. They're going to need to be supported, and that's going to hopefully still come from foundations and the local community and the state and the federal government if they get their act together,” she said.
The governor's spokesman echoed that.
"The Shapiro administration supports a community-led solution that both maintains access to local health care services and protects the dedicated staff at both hospitals," Bonder said.
