A $120 million deal to sell three Northeast Pennsylvania hospitals to a nonprofit group has fallen through after the proposed buyer could not secure financing. Community Health Systems Inc. announced Tuesday that WoodBridge Healthcare Inc. will not purchase Moses Taylor Hospital, Regional Hospital of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, which operate under CHS' for-profit Commonwealth Health System. WoodBridge officials said Tuesday that they retained investment banking firm Zeigler to secure deal funding for the acquisition by issuing tax-exempt bonds. "The entire WoodBridge team is extremely disappointed in this outcome," said Joshua Nemzoff, board chair of WoodBridge Healthcare Inc. "We very much looked forward to being part of the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre communities and partnering with the Commonwealth Health staff and physicians on providing the best healthcare in the region. CHS has gone out of its way to help get this deal done including significant concessions on their part. We appreciate all their efforts to do so."
