SHARON, Pa. - Sharon Regional Medical Center has announced a major milestone in the process of reopening the hospital.

According to a press release from the Tenor Health Foundation, the hospital's Outpatient Behavioral Health Services Department has officially reopened as of Tuesday, February 18.

This is the first step in the restoration of the hospital's comprehensive care programs that serve about 200,000 people throughout Northwest Pennsylvania, as well as the neighboring Mahoning Valley.

Sharon Regional's Senior Director of Behavioral Health Services T.J. Hudock is quoted in the release saying this reopening will allow 75 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder along with other conditions to immediately resume treatment.

According to the release, Sharon Regional will resume its full spectrum of behavioral health services including inpatient psychiatric care for kids and adults at its main campus in Sharon once Tenor Health completes the necessary licensing requirements.

Hudock added that the department continues to offer psychiatric medication management services at its outpatient office at 2375, Garden Way in Hermitage.

Looking ahead, Tenor Health says it has made progress in its medical imaging department by acquiring a digital detector.

Sharon Regional Radiology Director Jessica Schultz says that equipment will be able to answer critical diagnostic questions for its emergency and intensivist physicians within six seconds of image acquisition at the patient bedside, allowing for quicker responses to patients' needs.

Tenor Health CEO Radha Savitala tells 21 News safety issues found by the Pennsylvania Department of Health should not have stopped the hospital from reopening and adds that the department could have allowed for a provisional reopening while those issues were being addressed.

Savitala adds that those issues were known to the department long before Tenor Health acquired the facility.