MILLSBORO – TidalHealth is planning a new medical campus in Millsboro which leaders say involves more than $100 million in investment in Delaware as they work to remain a key part of the state’s health care system’s evolution.
Located in north Millsboro off of Route 113 and Route 20, the campus property is set to bring more than 150,000 square feet of medical services space to the area between three buildings.
The project was first reported by the Delaware Business Times in February 2020, but it was postponed by several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the land was purchased before the pandemic, TidalHealth is finally ready to start construction in March or April of this year after working with the city of Millsboro and state entities such as the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) through delays over the past couple of years.
“COVID slowed things down,” TidalHealth CEO and President Dr. Steve Leonard told DBT. “But last year, it was more businesses as usual and now we’re pushing forward with it. We’ve been working with the town and DelDOT to finalize things, both of whom have been so supportive of the project.”
Four buildings are currently planned at the campus with the first phase of construction bringing two of the buildings to the site. The first building will come in at around 100,000 square feet complete with laboratory services, a pharmacy and diagnostic capabilities including advanced imaging, CAT scans, MRIs, specialty care and more.
While TidalHealth plans to also include primary care services at the new campus, other specialties have been a top concern, as well, such as cardiovascular care, endocrinology and pediatric care – specialties that Leonard said are increasing in need.
“Many of these specialties are things people would typically have to travel to Seaford or Salisbury for,” he told DBT.
Another building will also include a surgery center, primarily for orthopedic surgeries, along with other services as space allows. As TidalHealth continues growing its new campus in Millsboro, pad sites for the third and fourth buildings will be installed for future use.
“I think people will be pleased with the vast array of services provided in one community campus location without having them travel to what is typically one of the hospital campuses. They will have more comprehensive services close to home,” Leonard said.
The drive on a clear day from Millsboro to emergency or specialty services at TidalHealth’s Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford is roughly about 30 minutes. It’s a similar drive for those wishing to drive to Beebe Hospital in Lewes or about 45 minutes to Bayhealth Sussex Campus in Milford. All those drives can become much longer during the height of summertime tourism.
“We look at 30-minute travel times,” Leonard told DBT. “We also serve areas further east, including Long Neck, Georgetown and the smaller communities west of 13. Long neck to Seaford is not half an hour obviously. Those drive times sometimes make care inaccessible or undesirable. It makes rural health care different than in urban settings. . .
Tackling the needs of TidalHealth’s primarily rural community-base in both Delaware and Maryland has not been an easy task with the area’s significant shortage of physicians compared to its urban counterparts, along with its growing older and diverse population. But it’s a challenge that the health care executive said must be handled with care.
“Our growth rate is phenomenal. In the past 14 years, our country grew 11%; our service area grew 25%. It’s a fascinating type of experience. The age of our population is also older which means health care is higher utilized and we have some cultural implications in the area of patients not getting treatment quickly enough, versus the urban settings where patients often get care sooner when a problem develops,” Leonard told DBT.
He also mentioned other concerns unique to the Sussex County and Eastern Shore Maryland areas where TidalHealth now has many medical facilities, such as health equity, language barriers and the prevalence of diseases unique to rural and coastal communities.
Increasing its medical practices, as well as the number of graduate medical education programs in recent years, are just two ways the organization has worked to benefit health care in the area. It added three fellowships in January of 2025 for a total of 13 with more in the works, to include pulmonary critical care, nephrology and endocrinology. TidalHealth also recently announced a proposed merger with Atlantic General Hospital and Health System of Berlin, Md. which would increase its access to more medical offices in both Maryland and Delaware’s beach areas.
“Putting all of the rural health care challenges together, it makes health care pretty challenging. It’s great from an academic perspective, but you don’t want to see it,” Leonard said. “We want people treated in their location with quality services and that’s what this is all about. It ultimately does reduce emergency room consumption because if you let those diseases or comorbidities evolve instead of treating them early, our patients do end up in the ER. So we have a strong emphasis in graduate education and pipeline development and growth. That’s one of the ways we can continue being the lowest cost provider in the area.”