Work to transition ownership of Commonwealth Health’s hospitals in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre to the nonprofit Tenor Health Foundation will continue into 2026, hospital officials informed staff Wednesday.
The update came after Tenor signed in late October a definitive agreement to acquire Commonwealth Health in a pending transaction that includes Regional Hospital of Scranton, its nearby Moses Taylor Hospital campus in the city and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, as well as associated clinics and outpatient centers.
Officials originally expected to complete the transaction in 2025, though that process remains ongoing.
An email sent early Wednesday on behalf of Wilkes-Barre General CEO Michael B. Clark and interim Regional Hospital CEO David E. Loving advised staff that the ownership transition would not be completed Wednesday, the last day of 2025, “as Tenor Health and the Pennsylvania Department of Health are still working to finalize the necessary approvals.”
“The goal remains to complete the closing as soon as possible,” the email said. “We will provide updates as we have more information.”
For-profit Community Health Systems Inc., Commonwealth Health’s Tennessee-based parent company, provided the same statement when contacted by the newspaper.
Radha Savitala, Tenor Health Foundation’s CEO, responded to a request for comment with a similar statement.
“Tenor Health Foundation is committed to completing the transaction for the acquisition of Commonwealth Health and will continue to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to complete its review of our applications,” Savitala said. “We look forward to closing in the very near future.”
The state Department of Health said it is “committed to ensuring patient safety and responsible hospital ownership as part of its Change-in-Ownership review of Commonwealth Health System’s hospitals in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.”
“The Department continues to work with Tenor Health Foundation on its applications to operate hospitals in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Health Department spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo said in a statement. “However, at this time, the Department does not have all the information necessary to complete its review of Tenor’s application. The Department is waiting for Tenor to submit requested information.”
Prior to the definitive agreement announced in October, Tenor signed a letter of intent in August to acquire the Commonwealth Health hospitals after their sale to another nonprofit, WoodBridge Healthcare, collapsed in late 2024. WoodBridge had announced plans in July of that year to purchase the three hospitals and other Commonwealth Health assets, but the deal ultimately fell apart when it failed to secure bond financing to complete the acquisition.
The WoodBridge sale’s collapse renewed fears that the financially struggling Scranton hospitals, Regional and its Moses Taylor campus, could close absent acquisition by a new buyer. Closures would create a major void in the region’s health care landscape that other providers would struggle to fill, health care workers and other stakeholders warned.
Those fears motivated a multifront effort to save Regional and Moses Taylor, with officials at all levels of government working to facilitate a new sale and a collection of local foundations and nonprofits providing millions of dollars in temporary stopgap support to keep services running and staff paid at the Scranton facilities in the intervening time.
The newspaper first reported in June that Tenor was exploring a potential acquisition deal.
As part of the ongoing process of acquiring Commonwealth Health, Tenor secured in late November the Luzerne County Council’s approval of a financing plan for the purchase of Wilkes-Barre General. The nonprofit was not seeking financing for Regional or Moses Taylor as Community Health Systems is essentially giving them away and divesting from unprofitable operations, officials explained at a Luzerne County Council meeting earlier that month.
To the extent it represents a lifeline that could secure the future of the Scranton hospitals, elected and other local officials have largely reacted to the pending Tenor acquisition with cautious optimism.