Bayhealth ‘tops off’ new Milford hospital

Hundreds of people gathered at Bayhealth’s Sussex Campus construction site under the scorching sun July 11 for a topping-off ceremony celebrating the progress of the new, multimillion-dollar health campus.

The roots of the ceremony, also called topping-out, trace back hundreds of years to early Scandinavian culture, explained Josh Fanelli, vice president of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company based in Newark.

“People placed trees and branches on top of their new buildings of the day as a sign of new life, and actually to ward off evil spirits,” he said. Now it’s a symbol celebrating a new building and a sign of good luck.

Placing an American flag on top of the building dates back to the 1920s, Fanelli said, and was once a sign of political protest.

“But today the flag has come to mean what you would expect: a sense of pride in work, what we can accomplish together, and patriotism,” he said.

State and local officials joined Bayhealth leaders and officials for the ceremony, which marks a milestone in the construction of a 440,000-square-foot hospital and $300 million health campus that will feature an emergency department, general and specialty services, and children’s services by Nemours.

For more about Bayhealth’s work in Milford, go to www.imaginede.com.