Beebe Specialty Surgical Hospital to open May 16
One of the largest construction projects in Beebe Healthcare’s more than 100-year history is nearly ready for staff to move in. The Beebe Specialty Surgical Hospital, on Warrington Road between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, is scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m., Monday, May 16.
The $125 million, 135,000-square-foot facility is designed to deliver short-stay surgical care, including orthopedic, bariatric and breast procedures. The new hospital contains four operating rooms; 18 pre- and post-operative care rooms; 24 private, short-stay inpatient rooms; new imaging and CAT scan rooms; laboratory and pharmacy services; and a therapy room, kitchen, cafeteria and chapel. Up to 150 employees will work at the new hospital.
Orthopedic procedures include joint replacements and spine surgeries with support from a team of nurses, rehabilitation specialists and discharge-planning counselors.
The staff will institute Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocols to expedite post-operative recovery.
This summer, the Rehoboth walk-in clinic will move to the facility, gaining 30 percent more room. The fourth floor is unfinished to allow for future expansion, said Dr. David Tam, Beebe Healthcare president and CEO.
In addition, once the walk-in clinic relocates to the new facility, work will begin to renovate portions of the Rehoboth Health Campus for the Beebe Center for Breast Health, in addition to the Tunnell Cancer Center and Bookhammer Outpatient Surgery Center at the Route 24 facility adjacent to the new specialty surgical hospital.
“It will be a state-of-the art breast center,” said Dr. Diana Dickson-Witmer, a surgeon who will head the center. “Patients will be able to get screenings, biopsies and surgery all in the same place with community education and outreach as well. We are going to take it to the next level,” she said.
Registered Nurse Regina Newell, a clinical expert who worked with staff and contractors throughout construction, led a March 14 media tour through the new facility. She said staff and community input was imperative to the design of the clinical areas of the hospital.
Mark Loukides, head of facilities, said the hallmarks of the new hospital are efficiency, state-of-the art technology and communications, attention to detail and patient comfort, right down to the choices of colors used throughout the building. “We want this to have a relaxing look and atmosphere, and not look like a typical hospital,” he said.
Local artwork and photography will be featured on walls throughout the hospital rooms.
“We are building on the reputation already established at Beebe,” said Dr. Wilson Choy, an orthopedic surgeon. “Now we can improve on what we’ve done in the past with more efficiency and safety, and even better quality. We are facing a huge population boom, and we are addressing that.”
He said currently, Beebe surgeons perform 30 to 35 joint replacements a week and will be able to expand that number to 40 to 50 a week.
Tom Protack, Beebe Medical Foundation president, said donations from the community during the I Believe in Beebe Campaign raised $45.4 million. The funds were used at the new facility, for renovations at the existing Margaret H. Rollins Lewes Campus, and at the new Beebe South Coastal Cancer Center and emergency department that opened near Millville in July 2020.
Tam said the new hospital is helping Beebe meet its goal of providing as much care as possible for Sussex County residents. It will also help to attract new physicians, he said. “”People tell me all the time that we need more doctors. It’s my goal to recruit highly qualified physicians,” he said. “Our specialty is Sussex County and understanding all of their needs to provide community-oriented treatment in a place where people choose to get their care.”
![Plans for the new facility were already in the works when Dr. David Tam became Beebe Healthcare president and CEO on March 17, 2020. Tam says the new facility is part of Beebe’s commitment to serve Sussex County residents.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6232.jpg)
![The new hospital will focus on short-stay surgical care and recovery using four new state-of-the-art operating suites designed for expansion with robotics in the future.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8726.jpg)
![Dr. Wilson Choy, orthopedic surgeon, and Regina Newell, RN, were among staff who were instrumental in designing the clinical areas of the hospital. More than 150 Beebe staff, as well as community members, provided input toward the design.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8753.jpg)
![The lights are on and Beebe Healthcare staff are busy getting ready for the May 16 opening of the new Beebe Specialty Surgical Hospital.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6288.jpg)
![Regina Newell, RN, explains how patients and staff will utilize one of the 18 pre- and post-operative rooms.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8719.jpg)
![Each of the 24 private, short-stay inpatient rooms includes a sofa bed for use by family members. The rooms were designed, right down to the placement of electrical outlets, with input from staff.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6111.jpg)
![Nurses stations in the new hospital were designed with input from staff to allow for better efficiency.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8723.jpg)
![Regina Newell, RN, explains how blood samples will be shipped via an underground tube between the adjacent Rehoboth Health Campus and Tunnell Cancer Center, and the new consolidated laboratory.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8782.jpg)
![Staff in the new kitchen and cafeteria will also prepare meals for the adjacent Rehoboth Health Campus and Tunnell Cancer Center.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/_DSC8803.jpg)
![Distance markers featuring local artwork will help patients recovering from orthopedic procedures set walking goals as they recover before being discharged.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6108.jpg)
![A mural painted by Bret Steeves lines a wall outside the third floor of the facility. Local artwork and photography will eventually line the halls and rooms of the new hospital.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6183.jpg)
![Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Wilson Choy says a new therapy room is designed to help patients transition from their operation to go home quickly and start physical therapy.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6128.jpg)
![Dr. Wilson Choy, orthopedic surgeon, and RN Regina Newell, a clinical expert who worked with contractors, get into the front seat of a “car” used by therapists to assist patients who are transitioning after orthopedic procedures.](/sites/capegazette/files/2022/03/field/image/DSC_6154.jpg)