CHS sold its Scranton hospitals for $33M — two years after a $120M deal collapsed

Community Health Systems had agreed in July 2024 to sell its three-hospital Commonwealth Health system in northeastern Pennsylvania — the 186-bed Regional Hospital of Scranton, 122-bed Moses Taylor Hospital and 369-bed Wilkes-Barre General — to nonprofit WoodBridge Healthcare for $120 million. In late November 2024 the deal was scrapped: WoodBridge could not satisfy the funding requirements.

With Regional and Moses Taylor facing possible closure, a coalition of local foundations and nonprofits pooled millions of dollars in temporary support to keep the hospitals running while CHS worked with Governor Josh Shapiro's administration and state legislators to find another operator, in what the company called exhaustive outreach to regional and national organizations.

In August 2025 CHS signed a letter of intent with Tenor Health Foundation, a nonprofit recently formed by former Prime Healthcare executives to turn around struggling small and mid-sized hospitals through revenue-cycle efficiency, service-line changes and expense management. A definitive agreement followed in October 2025, with closing contingent on Tenor securing funding and clearing regulatory approvals.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health cleared the sale on January 29, 2026, and it closed on February 1: $33 million in cash plus a $15 million promissory note from Tenor, with additional cash possible depending on collections of certain patient accounts receivable over the following 90 days — a fraction of the $120 million price agreed two years earlier.

Sale closed Feb 1, 2026: $33 million cash plus a $15 million promissory note and possible receivables proceeds, moving three money-losing hospitals off the chain's books.

The first buyer's failure reset the market: the replacement deal fetched $48 million against $120 million.

CHS chose continuation of care over maximising price, negotiating with the state rather than closing two hospitals.

Tenor was built for exactly this — a turnaround vehicle for struggling small and mid-sized hospitals — and agreed to honour the SEIU union contract.

Community bridge funding kept the hospitals operating through the 14-month gap, which is what made a second sale possible at all.

When a rescue deal dies, the seller's alternatives narrow with every month — community bridge money bought time, but the second price was a quarter of the first.

Tenor took over the three hospitals and affiliate sites on February 1, 2026, with the union reporting members 'hopeful and relieved' and local officials framing the closing as the finish line of a state-community-company effort; the price includes possible additional cash tied to 90-day patient-receivable collections.