News

Beebe Announces Plans to Expand Services in Southern Sussex County

03/23/06

Beebe Medical Center announces that it is one step closer to expanding its medical services in the southern Sussex County.

The Medical Center has purchased more than 10 acres of land along Route 26, just west of Route 17, and is in the process of designing a new outpatient medical facility.

The population growth in Sussex County over the last ten years has been remarkable and with that growth we are seeing an increased need to provide more comprehensive outpatient services to those along the Route 26 corridor, said Jeffrey M. Fried, President and CEO of Beebe Medical Center.

The new facility along Route 26 that we are planning to build will enable us to better serve those living in southern Sussex County for many years to come.

The new facility, to be built in the Clarksville area, will be more than double the total square footage of the summer-only Emergency Center and year-round outpatient services in the Creekside Shopping Center in Millville.

It will be as accessible to the growing populations in the Frankford, Roxana and Dagsboro areas as it is to the beach communities of Millville, Ocean View, Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island. The facility will include an Emergency Center that initially will be open in the summer season only, and year-round services to include a walk-in care center, a comprehensive physical rehabilitation department, a walk-in laboratory and EKG services, and a complete diagnostic facility with CT, MRI, mammography, plain-film X-ray, and ultra sound.

While the facility initially will be smaller than the facility on the Beebe Health Campus on Route 24 in the Rehoboth Beach area, it will have the potential to grow to that size.

It will probably be two years before the facility is open, but it is definitely needed and we are hopeful that the communities in that also will assist us with a fund-raising initiative to help pay for the center, Mr. Fried said. He estimated that the cost of the facility at about $9 million.

In the meantime, the Emergency Department in the Creekside Shopping Center in Millville will, once again, be open 24 hours a day from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend. Beebe also has diagnostic imaging, laboratory and physical therapy services available in the area, and several of the physicians on its medical staff have local offices. It also offers a variety of outreach services through its Community Health Department.

There are more than 200 physicians affiliated with Beebe Medical Center who represent nearly 30 different specialties. New residents are encouraged to establish a local primary care physician as soon as possible to promote continuity of their healthcare in both preventive and emergency situations. Beebe Medical Center makes information about physicians affiliated with the hospital available on its website, www.beebemed.org, or by calling Beebe's Physician Referral Line at 645-3332.