Sharon Regional Medical Center was approved for a $11 million loan by the Penn Northwest Board of Directors on Friday.

This comes after the Hermitage Board of Commissioners approved a $250k loan to help with the startup operation of the facility.  The loan could be used for payroll, supplies and equipment used in the hospital.

Hermitage commissioners were not alone in their efforts to aid the hospital.  In total around nine contributors were offering to help the facility including foundations like Buhl Regional and municipalities like Hermitage.

Penn Northwest Executive Director Rod Wilt said the loan they approved was a consortium of the nine contributors and their help.

"Everyone engaged with this transaction so far, I think, has had the best intention trying to protect the community," said Wilt.

With many of Sharon Regional's past employees having to move to new jobs and opportunities after the facility closure, the search for new staff has begun.

Wilt spoke on Tenor's current objective of hiring new staff, stating "I know Tenor is in the middle of recruiting and getting a lot of the folks that have all the intellectual capital on how the operation works."

According to Wilt, Sharon Regional is currently in the last stages of getting licensure from the Department of Health.

The hospital closed earlier this month after failing to suit a buyer.  Tenor Health Group took over the hospital operation only a few days later.

Sharon City Manager Bob Fiscus and Penn Northwest have been aiming to have Sharon Regional open on Valentine's Day weekend.