SHARON, Pa. – Sharon Regional Medical Center may have new life after a settlement agreement was reached between Medical Properties Trust and the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office that would dismiss claims filed against MPT in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
The settlement was signed late Tuesday by Common Pleas Court Judge Ted Nesbitt, according to the Sharon Herald.
In the agreement, negotiated by attorneys from MPT and the attorney general’s office, the commonwealth discontinued the petition for redress involving alleged violations of the February 2014 sale agreement and court orders with Community Health Systems, which sold the hospital to Steward Health Care System.
The court document outlining the settlement indicates the commonwealth believes the agreement’s terms are “in the best interest of the public at large and that the public interest will be best served by the parties entering in this agreement.”
The Christian H. Buhl Legacy Trust has stated MPT owes at least $25 million for failing in the upkeep of the hospital and questioned the ownership claims of MPT following the transfer sales from Community Health Systems to Steward to MPT. Buhl and its claims are not mentioned in the court documents. Statements from Buhl have indicated its claims do not interfere with the reopening of the hospital.
Tuesday’s agreement is the second agreement reached this week in the case involving the attorney general’s office. U.S. Bankruptcy Court documents filed Monday outlined an agreement with the commonwealth to drop its approximately $10 million in claims against Steward, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2024.
Radha Savitala, founder and CEO of Tenor Health Foundation LLC, has stated she hopes to have the hospital reopened in about two weeks.
The deal for the sale to Tenor was approved by bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez on Jan. 10. Documents filed Tuesday in bankruptcy court state the sale of the hospital is expected to close Wednesday.
Ombudsman Report
Also Tuesday, the ombudsman who has reported on patient care during Steward’s bankruptcy praised the Sharon Regional Medical Center staff and said she was “delighted” about the sale of the hospital.
Susan Koenig issued her final report Tuesday. The report covers the period from Nov. 20 to Jan. 21 and includes the efforts by the Sharon Regional staff to prepare the hospital to regain licensing before reopening.
In her report, Koenig said she was pleased to hear about the sale of the hospital, but she didn’t indicate she was aware that MPT, which is the leaseholder for the Sharon hospital property, claimed in a statement last week that it was “unable to proceed” with reopening the hospital after Buhl refused to drop legal claims related to ownership and upkeep of the hospital.
“The ombudsman is pleased that, despite the current closure, SRMC was sold and will open at a later date,” Koenig wrote in her report. “With the planned reopening, SRMC will continue to provide critical emergency services that only SRMC offered in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and its surrounding communities.”
Koenig said an ombudsman representative was at the hospital Jan. 13 and saw department leaders and staff cleaning and organizing their departments in anticipation of reopening.
Koenig said narcotics had been removed and some medications were returned to the manufacturer since the hospital closed. A medication refrigerator in the emergency department was malfunctioning, and there were plans to replace it.
She saw no violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which involves patient privacy regarding their medical records. The kitchen was open to serve meals to staff members.
Koenig said an ombudsman representative was at the hospital Jan. 13 and saw department leaders and staff cleaning and organizing their departments in anticipation of reopening.
Koenig said narcotics had been removed and some medications were returned to the manufacturer since the hospital closed. A medication refrigerator in the emergency department was malfunctioning, and there were plans to replace it.