State’s review of Commonwealth Health ownership change ongoing, Tenor expects decision soon

The state Department of Health approved the nonprofit Tenor Health Foundation’s applications to acquire and operate Commonwealth Health’s hospitals in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Tenor CEO Radha Savitala and the state confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

The major development represents a significant hurdle cleared for Tenor, which said in a statement earlier this week that, given state approval, it “stands ready to conclude the transaction and to successfully operate” Regional Hospital of Scranton, its nearby Moses Taylor Hospital campus in the city and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital in Luzerne County. It should also come as a relief to hospital workers and other stakeholders who’d grown increasingly anxious over the prospect of Regional and Moses Taylor closing if the state rejected the ownership change.

Concern that those two financially struggling hospitals could close absent acquisition by a new owner intensified last year after the would-be sale of all three Commonwealth Health hospitals to another nonprofit collapsed in late 2024.

Tenor emerged in 2025 as that would-be owner amid a concerted, multifront push to save Regional and Moses Taylor, with Tenor signing in late October a definitive agreement to acquire Commonwealth Health in a pending transaction that includes the three hospitals and other assets.

While Tenor officials originally expected to complete the transaction in 2025, the calendar turned without a resolution. Stakeholders hoping for good news on that front spent the past month waiting for a decision from the state on whether to approve Tenor’s change-of-ownership applications — approval Savitala and others said Tenor ultimately secured.

“Tenor Health Foundation is in receipt of the approval from the PA Department of Health for the acquisition of Regional Hospital of Scranton, Moses Taylor Hospital and Wilkes Barre General Hospital,” she said in a statement. “We thank the Department for its review and thank the Shapiro Administration for their oversight in the process.”

Savitala’s statement also credited U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., noting he “was relentless in his efforts to ensure access to healthcare in the region remains strong,” and state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., who “was instrumental in getting the approval completed for her communities.”

“We are humbled by (the) support of everyone involved and look forward to providing care in Northeast Pennsylvania,” Savitala said.

The state Department of Health directly confirmed the approvals in an email. That confirmation came shortly after Bresnahan said on social media that his team “received confirmation” Wednesday that the ownership change had been officially approved.

For-profit Community Health Systems Inc., Commonwealth Health’s Tennessee-based parent company, also confirmed the approval.

“We are thrilled to learn that the Pennsylvania Department of Health has approved Tenor Health’s acquisition of the hospitals and clinics of Commonwealth Health,” spokeswoman Tomi Galin said in a statement. “Preserving the healthcare services offered by Commonwealth Health is monumentally important to the community, and we are grateful to everyone who has helped make this transaction possible. The employees and physicians of Commonwealth Health have our deep respect for their professionalism and the quality, compassionate care they provide for their patients.”

“This was the final step in the approval process,” Galin’s statement concluded. “CHS and Tenor will now work to finalize the transaction as quickly and as smoothly as possible.”

It comes after workers and union leaders at Regional and Moses Taylor urged the state Health Department in a recent letter to consider health care access and jobs during its ownership-change review. They called on the department and state officials “to do everything in your power to secure our future,” describing the hospitals as “essential access points for acute care, emergency services, and inpatient treatment for our region.”

“Any disruption, delay, or uncertainty surrounding ownership has real consequences for the patients, families, and communities who rely on our hospitals, and for those of us who provide care every day,” they wrote. “While we recognize the Department’s responsibility to ensure compliance, safety, and regulatory integrity, we respectfully urge that those considerations be balanced with the urgent need for stability, transparency, and continuity of care.”

Those who see the pending Tenor transition as a potential lifeline for Regional and Moses Taylor have frequently voiced concern about the void in the local health care landscape their closures would create — a void other health systems and providers would struggle to fill.

Geisinger officials said earlier this month that their hospitals in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties were operating above capacity at historic levels not seen even during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic. They largely attributed the acute capacity challenges to surging respiratory virus activity, but said patients switching from Commonwealth Health to Geisinger was a contributing factor.

When Tenor and CHS might officially complete the transaction remains to be seen.