News

Tunnell Cancer Center To Take Over 1st Floor of New Medical Arts Center

06/27/06

The new Medical Arts Center is taking shape on the 35-acre Beebe Health Campus on Route 24 in Rehoboth Beach. This impressive, three-story, 90,000-square-foot building will expand the medical services available at the convenient site just west of Route 1 to meet the health care demands of the growing population of eastern Sussex County.
Beebe Medical Center's Tunnell Cancer Center, which has served the area for more than a decade, will move into the first floor of unique medical center this fall to double its size to 28,000 square feet and to introduce some of the latest cancer-treatment technologies to the community.
The second and third floors of this modern and easily accessible building will house physician offices that will be state-of-the-art, spacious and comfortable for physicians and patients alike. These offices also will compliment the medical services already offered at the Beebe Health Campus that include outpatient surgery, diagnostic imaging, express testing, rehabilitation services and women's imaging. With the construction on the Medical Arts Center nearly completed, the campus now has parking for 400 cars.
We realized that with the record population growth in eastern Sussex County, there was a real need for a modern and conveniently located center where physicians can practice medicine and offer their patients the necessary health care services at the same time, says Steve Silver, Managing Member, Rehoboth Medical Development, LLC. We are proud to bring this project to the community.
The new building is the perfect place for Tunnell Cancer Center to offer the latest in care and technology to its patients.
"Our new Tunnell Cancer Center comes at the culmination of a long process to make sure that we bring the most well-designed and highest quality cancer center to our patients, physicians and staff," says Cherrie Rich, Beebe's Director of the Oncology Service Line and Integrative Health, "And, that we grow with the needs of our community."
The new Tunnell Cancer Center will be more spacious and roomier than the existing one, with new radiation equipment, including a new linear accelerator, additional examination rooms and offices for physicians, as well as 22 chairs/bed for those undergoing chemotherapy. The area around each chair will be larger, so that there is more room for caregivers and family members. The new center also will have a lab, and on site pharmacy to support care for patients undergoing infusions. The center will also provide wig and prosthesis fitting consultation, educational library services with Internet access for patients and family members in the Jean and Joan Education and Recovery Center, and an outdoor healing garden.
The expansion of the Tunnell Cancer Center and the construction of the Medical Arts Center comes at a time when Sussex County is experiencing some of the fastest growth in the nation. Delaware's popular coastal and inland bay communities have been a magnet for people moving from Maryland and Pennsylvania, and even New Jersey and New York. The population of Sussex County has grown more than 50 percent since 1990, and that growth is predicted to continue as the baby-boom population retires.
Cherrie Rich said that Beebe Medical Center officials surveyed patients, physicians and staff members to find out what services and design features they felt were important to be included in the new Tunnell Cancer Center.
"We felt it was important to get input from those who use the center," she explains.
The survey reflected the philosophy that has driven the Tunnell Cancer Center since it began 11 years ago - to bring the highest quality cancer treatment and care to the growing community in a team approach, while at the same time making sure that people are treated in a warm and compassionate manner.
Although the Tunnell Cancer Center at the Beebe Medical Center main campus on Savannah Road in Lewes was opened in November of 1995, its roots date back several years. In the late '80s, Beebe Medical Center offered chemotherapy to patients. Two visiting medical oncologists came two days a week to run clinics. In 1991, Beebe hired medical oncologist Dr. Srihari Peri, who practiced in a small office on Savannah Road. Beebe would refer patients for radiation to other facilities, including to the Berlin, MD practice of radiation oncologist Dr. Andrejs Strauss.
Tunnell Cancer Center records show that during the first year, it had 11,254 patient visits. It is anticipated that this year there will be more than 50,000 patient visits, with as many as 600 newly diagnosed patients.
There are many physicians associated with the Tunnell Cancer Center, including two medical oncologists/hemotologists, three radiation oncologists, a surgical oncologist and a pathologist/hemopathologist and numerous Board certified surgeons. Tunnell Cancer Center is certified by the Association of Community Cancer Centers, and accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The Center offers patients the latest in chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Patients also have had the opportunity to take part in clinical trials used to study the latest breakthroughs in cancer treatment.
For information on leasing or purchasing physician medical office space in the Medical Arts Building, please contact Marisa Erdman at (302) 427-8181.
Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at .