Easton Hospital has faced financial challenges for months and is on the brink of closing after canceling profitable elective surgeries in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Dallas-based Steward Health Care, which owns the hospital, recently sent a letter to Mr. Wolf indicating Easton Hospital would close April 1 if it didn’t receive an infusion of about $40 million by March 25.
On Friday, Steward announced that the governor’s administration has agreed to provide $8 million to keep Easton Hospital open for four weeks, according to lehighvalleylive.com.
“We are encouraged that the Governor’s office has agreed to provide emergency funding to Easton Hospital for at least the next four weeks, so that we can continue providing medical care to the Lehigh Valley community during this global COVID-19 pandemic,” an Easton Hospital spokesperson said in a March 27 statement to lehighvalleylive.com.
In February, Steward signed a letter of intent to sell Easton Hospital to Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health System. Negotiations have stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Editor’s note: This article was updated March 30 at 7:00 a.m. CDT.