Geisinger Health System will buy The Commonwealth Medical College, three sources familiar with the deal said.

Geisinger President and Chief Executive Officer David T. Feinberg, M.D., and TCMC President and Dean Steven J. Scheinman, M.D., will announce the deal today at the medical college in Scranton.

Both the medical college's and health care system's boards of trustees already approved the purchase but the deal still needs regulatory approval, sources said on the condition of anonymity. The purchase is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, at which point TCMC faculty and employees will become Geisinger employees.

The new school will be called the Geisinger Commonwealth College of Medicine, sources said.

A pipe dream first announced in 2004, TCMC welcomed its first students in 2009, after a tenuous start that involved critical financial support from the state, loans and a $70 million donation from then-Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Area banks collaborated to draw up a $40 million bond, and former Sen. Robert Mellow worked closely with the school to secure a $35 million matching state grant.

Back in 2011, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which grants the medical college its academic accreditation, put TCMC on probation as the school struggled to prove it could maintain financial stability.

College officials had entertained the possibility of affiliating with the University of Scranton, but talks fell apart in spring 2012. A few months later, the accreditation agency lifted the probation.

Most medical colleges have some form of affiliation with a larger university or hospital system, and the deal will give TCMC — where 480 students are currently enrolled — stability while providing the health system a veritable pipeline of freshly-minted physicians.

"I think it's a fantastic idea strategically," said Justin Matus, Ph.D., a Wilkes University associate professor and health care policy expert. "They started with a built-in disadvantage (compared with) medical schools that have relationships with hospitals and universities."

While the medical college might be producing shining graduate doctors, standing on its own financially "was just too tall of a mountain for anyone to climb," Matus said, who also sits on the board of trustees at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

Earlier this month, Geisinger extended its reach with a partnership with St. Luke's University Health Network in the Lehigh Valley. Under the agreement, St. Luke's 10,000 employees will join Geisinger Health Plan insurance. The two groups will also explore value-based payment models and introduce a Medicare product to help patients with chronic conditions manage their symptoms.

With a presence in 45 counties, Danville-based Geisinger employs 30,000 people, and serves about 3 million patients. The health system owns the Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Geisinger Wyoming Valley in Plains Township, and several outpatient clinics in the region.

Robert Swift, staff writer, contributed to this story.

joconnell@timesshamrock.com, @jon_oc