U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez has approved the Jan. 6 closure of Steward Health Care's Sharon Regional (Pa.) Hospital.
Mr. Lopez approved a Dec. 27 request from the Dallas-based, for-profit health system after Steward filed a closure notice on Dec. 16 when Meadville (Pa.) Medical Center withdrew a proposed purchase of the hospital.
Steward, which sought Chapter 11 protection May 6, also filed two WARN notices in Pennsylvania for a total of 848 hospital employees.
Along with the approved closure, Steward may also "abandon any personal property remaining at the facility" on Jan. 6, according to a court document obtained by Becker's.
Since September, Pennsylvania has provided Steward with $4.5 million to keep the hospital running while it looked for a new operator. The state then filed an emergency notice in early December after Steward requested $3 million per month or it would begin closing the hospital.