REHOBOTH BEACH — Beebe Healthcare is in the preliminary stages of developing two new offices on its Rehoboth Campus, with the aim to add space for physicians and staff in growing Sussex County.
Plans filed on behalf of the Lewes-based health care system would develop two three-story buildings on 12 acres of land off Route 24. One building would be for doctors’ offices and practices within the community and the Beebe network. Each building would be 60,000 square feet in size.
The first floor of one building may be an ambulatory surgical center, or a specialized health care clinic that provides patients with outpatient treatments, according to Lighthouse Construction Inc. Vice President Mike Glick, who is the developer on the project.
“The only speciality use that is currently identified is an [ambulatory surgical center], not a hospital surgery,” Glick told state officials during a Preliminary Land Use Service meeting in September. “They will primarily be medical offices to be leased to, or shared with, doctors in the community.”
But first, the parcel of land has to be rezoned. Right now, the land is zoned agriculture/residential (AR-1) and Beebe officials would need it to be institutional district (I-1) to suit the plans.
“This is just a piece of the puzzle that for some reason was not resumed with everything else,” said Davis, Bowen & Friedel principal Jamie Sechler, who is the project engineer.
Beebe Healthcare’s Rehoboth Campus is anchored by its 135,000-square-foot Specialty Surgical Hospital that cost $125 million. Opened for service in May 2022, it has four operating rooms, 18 patient bays for pre- and post-operative care as well as 24 private patient rooms for short stays. There is room neighboring that facility for future expansion, though Beebe officials say there is none planned at this time.
The proposed two office buildings would be on the same land the medical arts building, developed and leased by Kennett Square-based ONIX Group, and the Bookhammer Outpatient Surgery Center. Beebe’s Tunnell Cancer Center is also on this property.
Beebe Healthcare President and CEO Dr. David Tam told the Delaware Business Times that the proposed offices would continue to further Beebe’s goals outlined in its strategic plan. He recently told DBT that the organization needed to look inward and figure out how to continue to offer services to all Sussex County residents while drawing more revenue.
“Beebe Healthcare is moving forward with key initiatives that support the execution of our five-year strategic plan – One Beebe,” Tam said in a statement. “This includes the continued recruitment of physicians and providers, strengthening our health system workforce, and planning and building facilities throughout Sussex County to serve our growing and evolving community.”
This article has been updated to correct the location of the proposed office space.
