Actors Circle in Scranton sets auditions for ‘The Children’s Hour’

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Happy birthday to Zachary Nathan Reisinger!

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; Would-be bidders of the former Nanticoke Special Care Hospital and a couple of spectators waited patiently as a technical issue postponed the building auction for five minutes on Monday.</p><p>The Nanticoke landmark and its adjacent parking lot then sold within 10 minutes at a live internet simulcast absolute auction for $100,000 to an anonymous online bidder Monday at the site of the hospital campus on 128 W. Washington St. The building has been vacant for the past year.</p><p>Sitting on four acres, the campus&#8217; main building is approximately 80,000 square feet.</p><p>It was not revealed what the property&#8217;s next use will be. The building was sold as-is, free and clear of all liens claims and encumbrances.</p><p>The absolute auction, which had no minimum bid and no reserved price was conducted by Fortna Auctioneers, with offices in Harrisburg and Annville.</p><p><strong>Hospital history</strong></p><p>Built in 1909, the hospital opened on land donated by Susquehanna Coal Co. and was taken over by the state in 1911. It was originally built by the company to serve the medical needs of the miners.</p><p>Eventually, it hosted a nursing school and acute care facility.</p><p>According to a Luzerne County Historic Resources Survey, the first medical operation at the hospital was done on Oct. 22, 1909 on a woman records identify as Mrs. Sura Allen of Glen Lyon.</p><p>It was divested of by the state in 1990 to Mercy Health Partners and renamed Mercy Special Care Hospital of Nanticoke. Catholic Health Partners of Cincinnati, Ohio, the parent company of Mercy Health Partners, had been leasing the property for $1 per month for 20 years, until Community Health Systems bought the building and Mercy Health Partners buildings in May 2011.</p><p>In the same sale that sold Mercy Special Care Hospital of Nanticoke, Community Health purchased Mercy Hospital, Scranton, and Mercy Tyler Hospital, Tunkhannock<strong>. </strong>They are now called Regional Hospital of Scranton and Tyler Memorial Hospital.</p><p>A new two-year lease was drawn up when Mercy decided to sell the hospital to a subsidiary of Community Health Systems, Nanticoke Hospital Co., for $2,000 per month, with a $500,000 option to buy.</p><p>Commonwealth Health operated the facility before selling the building to Camp Hill-based Post Acute Medical. After Post Acute Medical moved to the seventh floor of the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital last year, a clause in the property deed required that ownership be given back to Susquehanna Coal Co.&#8217;s successor, Newport Aggregates.</p><p>The Mercy Special Care Hospital Auxiliary bought the parking lot from Greater Nanticoke Area School District, tore the school down that was on the property and paved it.</p><p><strong>Bidding process</strong></p><p>Mike Fortna started the bid at $1 million. Nobody in the crowd or online made a move to keep the price high. Then Mike took it to $500,000. Silence. Finally the anonymous bidder quoted $100,000 and despite the encouragements from Fortna, the price stayed.</p><p>&#8220;It was sold for an extremely cheap price,&#8221; Dorothy Ashford, president of the Mercy Special Care Hospital Auxiliary, said. &#8220;I&#8217;m very surprised.&#8221;</p><p>Malcolm Jackson, of AKM Partners, was on hand to witness the auction. He was sent from Harrisburg by state Sen. John Yudichak&#8217;s office, but Jackson did not submit a bid.</p><p>&#8220;This is old hat for us,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t like anonymous bidders.&#8221;</p><p>Joe Libus and Andrew Antolik, who had worked there when the state ran the hospital, came to see what the hospital would sell for. Both were surprised about the lack of bids and hoped that whomever bought the two deeds would keep it as a hospital or medical building.</p><p>&#8220;It was a good hospital,&#8221; Antolik, Nanticoke State Hospital&#8217;s purchasing agent, commented. &#8220;If you have to get an X-ray in Nanticoke in a hurry, you&#8217;re out of luck.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It had a great staff,&#8221; added Libus, the medical assistant of the Nanticoke State Hospital.</p><p>When the bidder bought the building on Monday, they agreed to have a deposit of 10 percent down and the rest of the balance finalized within 45 days. Fortna declined to identify the successful bidder, but that information will become public when the deeds for the building and parking lot are recorded.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Joe Libus and Andrew Antolik, who once worked at the Nanticoke hospital, came to the auction Monday afternoon to see it and the adjacent parking area sell for $100,000. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111015nanticoke-auction1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Joe Libus and Andrew Antolik, who once worked at the Nanticoke hospital, came to the auction Monday afternoon to see it and the adjacent parking area sell for $100,000. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@civitasmedia.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or Twitter @TL_MMizenko.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Shuttered Nanticoke Special Care Hospital sold at auction for $100K