Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health System has plans to purchase Scranton, Pa.-based The Commonwealth Medical College, reports The Citizens' Voice.
The new medical school will be dubbed the Geisinger Commonwealth College of Medicine.
Geisinger President and CEO David Feinberg, MD, and TCMC President and Dean Steven Scheinman, MD, will officially announce the deal during a conference at the medical school Sept. 28.
Though Geisinger's board and TCMC's board have approved the acquisition, it still awaits regulatory approval. The deal is expected to be complete by Jan. 1, 2017.
TCMC, which currently has 480 students, opened its doors in 2009. By 2011, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education put it on probation due to financial struggles. Though TCMC considered affiliating with the University of Scranton (Pa.), talks dissolved in 2012. The LCME lifted its probation a few months later.
Update at 2:00 PM CST on Sept. 28:
Geisinger confirmed the deal will close within the next 90 to 120 days. The transition will be seamless, meaning students who have begun their year at TCMC will complete their year at Geisinger Commonwealth College of Medicine.
"Geisinger has been dedicated to medical education for more than a century and having a medical school completes the continuum," said Dr. Feinberg in a statement. "This strong alliance sets us apart by allowing us the unique ability to offer medical students a fully integrated learning experience while filling a tremendous need for physicians in the regions we serve."
"I am energized by the array of exciting possibilities available to us," Dr. Scheinman said. "From new clinical training sites to access to Geisinger's world-class research scientists and facilities, today's agreement guarantees the future of the college, expands our ability to create new educational programs and positions northeastern and central Pennsylvania as a national hub for scientific discovery, particularly in the realm of genomics."