Tam: Beebe’s community health, specializing in Sussex

Beebe Healthcare President and CEO Dr. David Tam said 10 years from now, if the majority of people in Sussex County feel good about their healthcare options, then Beebe will have done its job expanding to meet those needs.

Addressing the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon Oct. 5, Tam said the volume of patients to support an independent healthcare system is already here in Cape Region. The area is busy year round and already bursting, he said. 

With that in mind, he said Beebe has been expanding its services over the past few years and will continue to do so for years to come. For example, Beebe’s new surgical center off Route 24 that open earlier this year has a vacant fourth floor with space for 24 patient rooms. The hospital is already preparing to build out those rooms, he said, adding that the new building was built on time and under budget.

Tam took over as Beebe Healthcare president in March 2020. Since then, he said, there have been 109 new providers added to the system. The hospital is growing the physician pool by offering potential doctors a fair and decent wage, a workplace with the proper tools to succeed and by listening to their needs.

It’s not just the new surgical center in Rehoboth that’s full, it’s all of them, he said. The 2-year-old facility in Millville is surpassing volume expectations too, he said.

Tam said a new facility in Milton, which broke ground earlier this year, will be a huge deal. The hospital already offers some services in Milton, but the new facility will really allow for expansion, he said.

Beebe is also bringing two mobile medical addiction clinics on board, Tam said.

In addition, Beebe recently submitted plans for a new facility in Millsboro that would include a free-standing emergency room and pediatric services. Families need to be together and shouldn’t have to drive to Wilmington to do so, he said.

Tam said it costs roughly $2 million per room when building a new facility, which is why Beebe is also focusing on bringing medical services to homes through telehealth. It will cost $15 million to $20 million for the hospital to convert all the information to a format available by phone, but it needs to be done, he said.

Tam said Beebe continues to recruit new doctors and nurses, but the hospital is at a point where it now has to grow its own. As more people come to the area, Beebe needs to provide a greater diversity of staff, he said.

As for other hospitals coming into the area, Tam said he thinks it’s a good thing, but there are some things to figure out, such as referrals – are patients going to have to go somewhere else, or are they going to get a referral for a doctor in Beebe’s system?

Tam said Beebe may be a hospital providing healthcare services, but it’s also a business that costs $1.4 million a day to run. He said for every $1 spent on healthcare, there’s a positive growth to the local economy of $2.60 because employees spend money on things like gas, housing and vehicles.

Beebe is an economic driver, said Tam.

The number of independent healthcare providers like Beebe have dropped significantly in the past few years, said Tam. Five years ago, he said, there were 200 independent providers, but by 2021, the number dropped to 70.

Tam said 75% of all hospitals had a net negative margin over the past couple of years. Beebe, because it has the ability to be nimble as an independent provider, had a positive net margin, he said.

Beebe has been successful because the population and economy of Sussex County is still growing compared to other areas of the country, he said. The best thing for a community is an independent healthcare system, he said.

Beebe will continue to serve the community as best as it can, said Tam. The volume is here, the people are here, and there’s a need, he said.