Public hearing highlights support for new Sussex hospital

Leaders of behavioral health centers in central and northern Delaware say there is no need for a 90-bed psychiatric hospital in Sussex County.

But the majority of speakers at a Sept. 29 public hearing for the proposed SUN Behavioral Health Georgetown Psychiatric Hospital said there is a dire need for accessible inpatient and outpatient services in southern Delaware, arguing that traveling more than an hour or out of state to the closest facility poses serious burdens on patients and their families.

“Here we are in Sussex County in 2015 and there are no inpatient services,” said Jeffrey Fried, Beebe Medical Center president and CEO. Beebe, along with Bayhealth Medical Center and Nanticoke Health Services, support a new Sussex facility.

About a dozen people, including residents, medical professionals and attorneys, voiced support for the project during the two-hour hearing at Delaware Technical Community College's Owen Campus in Georgetown, about half a mile from the proposed project site. Comments received during the hearing, as well as about 40 letters of support and about seven additional written comments will be reviewed by a committee with the state Health Resources Board. The committee will forward its recommendations to the full board, which will then approve or deny the application.

SUN President and CEO Steve Page said he expects a final decision on the proposed 70,000-square-foot facility to come this fall.

Despite overwhelming support from a majority of speakers at the Sept. 29 hearing, John McKenna, CEO of The Rockford Center in New Castle, and Charles Constant, CEO of Dover Behavioral Health System, as well as Jason Powell, an attorney representing Universal Health Services, were highly critical of SUN's plan.

Powell argued that there is little unmet need in Sussex County, stating fewer than 30 Sussex County patients come to the behavioral health centers in Dover and New Castle on a monthly basis. If anything, he said, the need is for more intensive outpatient services.

“They're going to open it, make it profitable and sell it,” Powell said. He pointed to the fact that the SUN team has no current facilities in operation; three SUN Behavioral Health projects are in the works in Texas, Kentucky and Ohio, while the SUN management team has been involved in construction of seven new hospitals nationwide.

Constant said a specific assessment of the need for treatment options is needed, arguing that a state resource and crisis center in Ellendale and a Dover Behavioral Health campus in Georgetown are sufficient.

“A 90-bed facility, I don't think it's warranted,” Constant said.

All three criticized the for-profit company's revenue projections, which they said rely heavily on income from inpatient care. McKenna said services should focus on outpatient care, and that in Sussex County, only about 20 to 30 beds are needed.

While there are inpatient services available in New Castle and Kent counties, traveling to obtain the services is difficult for many Sussex County residents, whether it's due to lack of transportation, following up on appointments or the accessibility of family and friends to provide support, said Jim Lafferty, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Delaware.

“Not everybody can walk away from their job and still get paid,” Lafferty said. “We've never done anything to improve access.”

Lewes resident Harris Marx agreed.

When a local hospital couldn't care for his son's mental health needs and sent him by ambulance to Baltimore, the transport to adequate care came with a $3,000 price tag, Marx said.

“To me, there's a huge unmet need in Sussex County,” he said. “It's not enough to care. You need to act.”

While Lafferty said 90 beds may be too much, Sussex Countians need help locally when facing a mental health crisis.

SUN Behavioral Health plans to provide intensive inpatient care and tiered outpatient care, including 24-hour observational, partial hospitalization and community-based and specialty programs for seniors, military, women, men, children, adolescents, detox and substance abuse. If the plan is approved, construction could begin in mid-2016 with an opening in mid-2017.