Beebe Healthcare $180 million expansion includes ER, cancer center near Bethany Beach

Beebe Healthcare is expanding, and they're heading south. 

As part of a $180 million expansion, they are developing a southern campus in Millville, which will include a new year-round freestanding emergency department as well as a cancer center.

All of this is done to handle population growth in the area, said Alex Sydnor, vice president for external affairs, at an event promoting their expansion on Wednesday in Bethany Beach.

"We just finished the first 100 years, so we are thinking about how do we stay relevant and serve the community," he said. "Most of our expansion efforts are because of population."

The population in Sussex County is expected to grow by 8.6 percent by the year 2023, which is more than double the national average, Sydnor said, with much of that population growth occurring in southeastern Sussex County.

Many of those people moving to southeastern Sussex County are over the age of 65, he added.

"And folks over 65 typically need more health care services," he said.

The emergency department building will feature 22 emergency bays and on-site imaging. The cancer center will also offer treatments such as medical oncology, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

BACKGROUND: Beebe Healthcare announces $180 million expansion

There will be doctors staffing the emergency department building while the cancer center will be staffed with onsite oncologists and will offer chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

The expansion will build upon existing diagnostic imaging, physical rehabilitation and walk-in care services already offered in the area and will be located on Route 17 south of Burbage Road.

The total price tag for the two facilities is expected to be $30 million, Sydnor said.

"The projects are in design right now," he said. "We expect to be in construction by late fall 2018. They will both take about a year or a little more to complete building."

The Millville campus is part of a larger expansion project which also includes expanding services in Lewes and building a surgery facility in Rehoboth.

A portion of the total $180 million price tag will come through charitable contributions being sought in a major capital campaign being led by the Beebe Medical Foundation.

At the meeting, David Szumski, gift planning officer for Beebe Healthcare, spoke to those gathered at the South Coastal Library about possibly financing the project, saying he is excited about working with the people in southeastern Sussex County.

"If anyone here would like to talk to me about naming a building or joining our 1916 club ... whatever it is you would be interested in doing to help us, we would be so incredibly grateful," he said.

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Another reason why the project is being done is for the convenience of the people that live in the southeastern portion of the county.

It is a burden for people to have to drive between 30 and 60 minutes for cancer treatment, Sydnor said, which people in the southeastern portion of the county have to do.

"So we would like to reduce the travel burden and make it more convenient to get that care," he said. "That's also true for the emergency department."

The main Beebe Healthcare campus in Lewes is "as far away from here" as it has ever been, he added, and creating convenient access points for people is what is most important.

Overall, people at the meeting were excited about the reality that these facilities will be coming to their corner of Sussex County.

"I am just going to say, I am excited you all are coming," said Pam Switzer, of Ocean View. "Because there's an awful lot of us down here that are full time now, and we desperately need it down here."

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