Sharon Regional Medical Center opened its doors once again to patients Tuesday morning.

The hospital had been closed since January 6 as a result of the Steward Health System bankruptcy and sale of all hospital locations, along with delays from the state. The new owners of the hospital, Tenor Health Partners, are eager to welcome back its patients and staff but not all programs will be up and running this week.  

"There's still going to be a lot of work ahead of us," explained Dr. Valeri Roth, Chief of Surgery at Sharon Regional Medical Center. "But, getting those doors back open is the first step."

It's been 70 days since Sharon Regional Medical Center has offered critical healthcare services in the Mercer County community.

CEO of Tenor Health Radha Savitala told 21 News a limited number of services are being offered starting Tuesday including the ER, med-surge, the ICU, and behavioral health. Surgeries and the cath lab will not be immediately available.

"We won't be offering our full array of services just yet. We've been working towards ensuring patient safety for 'day one," Savitala said. "We're testing and re-testing the systems, making sure all of the units are ready to go and that we're fully stocked. We're ensuring everyone is trained for day one."

"We will be able to stabilize patients that come in with a critical situation," said Rod Wilt, Penn Northwest Executive Director. "If we can't treat them at SRMC, we will transfer them to a hospital that can help."

The reopening was delayed due to unresolved concerns with the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state determined the issues could be addressed while the hospital is open to serve the community.

"The people who are here, the managers, and the leaders are not the people who caused this problem," explained Vince Pavia, Nursing Supervisor with SRMC. "This was caused by Steward, outside of this environment. Our management here and our leadership have been working very hard. We've all been waiting for this a long time."

"This process had felt like a death," said Mary Hoagland, RN with SRMC. "I've worked here over 30 years and this has been difficult. Sharon Regional is a necessary commodity that we have here in the community."

Roth said the hospital has retained about 600 of its 700 employees.

"We also couldn't open if we didn't have sufficient staff to do that," Roth explained to 21 News on Monday. "So, we do have the bulk of the staff coming back. Some people were able to come in and still work, some had to take their PTO and so they were willing to sacrifice that to hang on and hope that the doors would open soon. Some may have taken unemployment during that time."

"We are really lucky that employees stuck around and have faith in us [Tenor]," Savitala said. "We are looking forward to Tuesday."

"It's very difficult to restart a hospital," Wilt added. "A lot of our elected officials have been involved at the city, county, and state level working with the PA Department of Health. The hospital should never have closed. The hospital always had enough revenue to remain open. Unfortunately, it was just owned by the wrong people."

Staff told 21 News they are eager to get back to work, staying optimistically cautious they have weathered the storm.

"In the Sharon community, everyone is a part of the hospital," Savitala explained. "Whether you work here or not, you always know a family member or a friend who works here or was impacted by the care that was provided."

It is unclear if a name change is on the horizon. Savitala said they are working to bring the hospital back to a non-profit status.  

Savitala said all services will be offered within "a few days to a couple of weeks" of reopening.