SHARON, Pa. – Without a last-minute reprieve, Sharon Regional Medical Center officially closed its doors Monday.
It was reported last week that Tenor Health Partners, based in Pasadena, Calif., reached an agreement in principle with Medical Properties Trust to operate the Sharon hospital properties. It’s not known if negotiations between Steward Health Care System, Medical Properties Trust and Tenor Health will be fruitful or another buyer can be found. For now, the Sharon hospital will not reopen.
The emergency room closed Sunday, and ambulances were diverted.
Diverting ambulances to other hospitals will now be commonplace. Frank Jannetti, director of public safety of Mercer County, said when someone calls 911, ambulances have been directed to take patients to the “closest, appropriate, available medical facility.”
Jannetti said with Sharon Regional not available, that may mean one of the UPMC Horizon hospitals, St. Elizabeth Youngstown or even Butler Memorial, depending on the health need.
UPMC had additional staff in place Monday in anticipation of the Sharon hospital’s closing, spokesperson Karen Beardsley said. She said UPMC is ready to accept additional patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
UPMC has a location in Farrell, less than 3 miles from Sharon Regional Medical Center, as well as locations in Greenville and New Castle.
As of Monday morning, Beardsley said she had not heard of any concerns with overcrowding at the UPMC hospitals, which have a plan in place to transfer patients throughout the UPMC system, if necessary.
Beardsley addressed a situation Sunday where it was reported UPMC Horizon was on diversion, which means it would not accept new patients, and ambulances should not bring patients there. According to Beardsley, a staff member incorrectly said the hospital was on diversion, and the miscommunication could have been dangerous for patients in need of care.
Steward Health Care, which filed bankruptcy in May, announced in December that it planned to close the Sharon hospital Jan. 6 after Meadville Medical Center said it would not purchase the hospital due to inadequate funding.