Bayhealth breaks ground on Route 9 facility
Bayhealth officially broke ground Dec. 15 on a 49,000-square-foot hybrid medical complex across from Dollar General on Route 9 between Lewes and Harbeson. The facility is planned to open in the first quarter of 2023.
“We’re very excited for work to begin,” Bayhealth CEO Terry Murphy said.
The facility, to be named Bayhealth Total Care, is a relatively new concept that combines emergency care, as in an emergency room, with walk-in care.
“When a patient comes in, no matter what their condition, if they are determined to have a medical condition that is not an emergency, they will be seen as a walk-in patient and charged as such. As opposed to everyone going to the emergency room and getting an emergency room bill,” Murphy said.
Dr. Gary Siegelman, chief medical officer, said, “It is the type of facility that is different from what we see in this area. It cuts across several services.”
Among those, he said, are neurology, oncology, primary care, cardiology, surgical service, orthopedics, blood work and women’s care.
Murphy said this concept has been implemented in other places and has been shown to reduce medical costs for patients. Murphy said the location is ideal, and building the facility helps prepare Bayhealth for additional capacity that will be needed as the baby boomer generation continues to age.
“We need to have healthcare services for those people in our community. That is what has driven us and will continue to drive us to have more services to meet the demand,” he said.
Murphy said he anticipates that the facility will be busy from day one and that Bayhealth will continue to go where the demand is needed.
The groundbreaking comes as Bayhealth celebrated the third anniversary of the opening of its Sussex Campus in Milford, the first step in its expansion in Sussex County. Bayhealth also has a Kent County campus in Dover.
Bill Strickland, Bayhealth board of directors chair, said, “This facility will bring a lasting impact to this area. It will mean increased access. It will mean vitality in the economic growth of this area. We are here for you, Sussex County.”
