The closure of a Tenor Health Foundation-owned hospital in Western Pennsylvania does not indicate a threat to the stability of the organization’s three Northeast Pennsylvania hospitals, officials say.
The state’s Department of Health ordered the suspension of all services at Sharon Regional Medical Center in Mercer County as of today after the Department revoked its license due to alleged financial mismanagement resulting in delayed employee payments and mounting utility debt.
State and Tenor officials both said what happened at Sharon has no bearing on Tenor’s three Northeast Pennsylvania hospitals, which operate locally under the umbrella of Commonwealth Health.
“Regional Hospital of Scranton (which includes the Moses Taylor campus) and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital each operate under separate hospital licenses and are not directly impacted by the Department's licensure action taken against Sharon Regional Medical Center this week,” a Department of Health spokesperson said in a statement to WVIA News.
Tenor officials echoed that.
“Commonwealth Health and Sharon Regional Medical Center operate completely independently from one another, and their financials are separate. Commonwealth Health’s hospitals and physician practices remain fully operational and continue to serve the healthcare needs of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Tenor spokesperson Annmarie Poslock said in a statement issued Friday.
WVIA News also reached out to Rep. Rob Bresnahan, Scranton Mayor and Congresswoman-elect Paige Cognetti, and Gov. Josh Shapiro's office seeking comment on what bearing the Sharon situation could have in Northeast Pennsylvania. None of them offered comment as of late Friday afternoon.
What's different between Sharon and Commonwealth Health hospitals?
Sharon initially closed in Jan. 2025 after its previous owners filed for bankruptcy. It reopened under Tenor’s leadership in May 2025. Sharon missed two payrolls in October, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
Nearby TV station WKBN reported that Sharon Regional Medical Center said they have had "issues getting their paychecks on time" in recent months.
Union officials representing staff at the Commonwealth Hospitals said Friday they were not aware of any similar problems here.
The state, meanwhile, said Sharon must apply for new licensure to reopen.
Tenor said Sharon Regional's physician network was disrupted during the period between closure and reopening under Tenor, and the hospital struggled with physician retention once it reopened.
Commonwealth Health's hospitals never closed and did not face the same level of disruption as Sharon, though they have faced financial hardships.
Commonwealth Health faced over a year of uncertainty after its previous owner attempted to sell the struggling for-profit hospitals to a nonprofit buyer in a $120 million deal that fell through in November 2024.
While efforts to find a new buyer continued, so did financial difficulties.
In 2025, expenses outpaced revenues by 20.5% at Regional, which operates under a single license with Moses Taylor, according to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report for that year. Wilkes-Barre General showed a positive margin that year, with revenues ahead of expenses by 8%.
Local foundations stepped in to financially support the hospitals through the uncertainty for several months in 2025.
Asked about the Sharon development on Friday, foundations spokesperson Charlie Lyons said the organizations had no comment at this time.
Tenor officially purchased the three hospitals in February of this year.
The hospitals have announced several milestones since Tenor took over, transitioning from fears of imminent closure to focusing on staff retention, opening a pharmacy at Moses Taylor Hospital and investing in a new women’s imaging and breast cancer care center set to open in 2027.
Tenor: Safeguards protect Commonwealth finances
Tenor officials said the financing of Commonwealth includes safeguards that ensure funds generated remain within the health system. The bonds it used to purchase Wilkes-Barre General include a requirement that hospital profits remain in Luzerne County.
The financial situation at Sharon required Tenor to assume about $1.26 WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification] Act-related liabilities and other related obligations, according to Tenor.
The hospital also paid about $1.8 million to repay Medicare and COVID-related overpayments that were associated with the hospital under its previous ownership.
Those financial obligations reduced the working capital available to support the hospital through the reopening process, making the hospital restoration more difficult than anticipated, despite investments in tech and cardiology, said Tenor.
