Things are at a standstill in the sale of Sharon Regional Medical Center.

Steward Health, Medical Properties Trust, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Meadville Medical Center have all agreed to meet with a federal judge to try and work things out in a closed door mediation beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 11. 

“Its a hospital system and it’s very important that communities keep hospital systems open. I think that's why the parties went to mediation. That's why the bankruptcy judge overseeing the case approved the medication,” Keith Rucinski, a bankruptcy expert said. “I think people are trying to do the best outcome for all the parties including the community.”

The judge is a neutral third party that will hear all sides and try to help them come to a final price of the sale of the hospital. 

“Usually emotions come into play and the goal of the mediator is to take the emotions out of the parties,” Rucinski said. “...mediators, depending on who they are, may point out maybe your position is not as good as you think or maybe there's other things that you're not considering.”

Meadville has been trying to come to an agreement since mid-August to buy Sharon Regional. We don’t know the specifics of what the parties can't agree on but the fact that they’re all willing to go into the meditation could be a good sign.

“Generally it means the parties want this deal to be done or they would've walked by now,” Rucinski said.

The mediation could go on for days or weeks. In the end, the judge won't make a final ruling - it will be up to both parties to see if they can agree on something.

It's still unclear who will be covering the cost to keep the hospital open this month. The commonwealth had until midnight on Monday, Dec. 9 to put up $3 million. 21 News reached out to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and Steward Health to see if that was met and neither have gotten back to us. Steward does have the option to start the closure of the hospital but the healthcare company has not said if anyone has received a notice.

Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023. They have been selling off hospitals across the county to try and recoup some money. Sharon Regional is one of the last hospitals to be sold.

The full filing on the agreement to start mediations can be found here: