Beebe approved for Millsboro hybrid facility

A federal injunction has led Beebe Healthcare and Bayhealth to announce it would pause its hard vaccination policy for staff. | PHOTO COURTESY OF BEEBE HEALTHCARE

MILLSBORO — Beebe Healthcare received approval from the state’s Health Resource Board on Friday for a $32 million hybrid emergency facility, aiming to meet the growing needs of Sussex county residents and visitors.

The 24/7 emergency department will be built near its planned ambulatory care facility on the corner of the U.S. Route 113 and Hardscrabble Road, with planned services for adult and pediatric emergency cases. Walk-in care services would also be offered through on-campus and virtual care.

Five primary care physicians and several other pediatric specialty providers would work out of the space. It would be the only health care location to offer emergency pediatric services in Sussex County.

“Beebe Healthcare is very pleased with the due diligence performed and decision made by the Delaware Health Resources Board to approve this very critical project for the health of the people in the greater Millsboro area,” Beebe Healthcare CEO and President Dr. David Tam said in a statement. 

“We appreciate the hard work and thoughtfulness exhibited by the members of this body in the deliberation of this proposal,” he continued. “I look forward to beginning working on this project, and eventually report back to the board that their wisdom was indeed, well-founded.”

The planned 24,000-square-foot hybrid facility will share space with a 72,000-square-foot ambulatory care building on 26 acres of land. It will also include 10 emergency exam rooms, 10 walk-in rooms as well as advanced diagnostic imaging. Two of the emergency rooms will be dedicated to pediatric cases.

This new project will be Beebe’s western-most emergency department, targeting the Long Neck area and west and south of Seaford. Millsboro is at least a 23-minute drive from a future Bayhealth facility in Harbeson and more than a half hour from Beebe’s main campus in Lewes. Once built, the Millsboro facility will only be a seven-minute drive away.

In total, eight municipalities would be within 25 minutes from the proposed Beebe hybrid facility, including Dagsboro and Georgetown – an area with an estimated population of 67,000 full-time residents.

When a patient arrives at the future hybrid facility, they will be evaluated to determine whether they require walk-in or emergency services. If a patient needs a walk-in, they will only be charged the walk-in rate. 

Beebe officials anticipate that at least 3,000 cases will be converted from emergency care to walk-in visits, which will save patients $1.7 million, according to its application.