State health board approves psychiatric hospital in Georgetown

The Delaware Health Resources Board has given the green light for SUN Behavioral Health to build a 90-bed behavioral health facility in Georgetown.

The SUN Behavioral Health Georgetown Psychiatric Hospital will provide intensive inpatient care and tiered outpatient care, including 24-hour observation, partial hospitalization, and community-based and specialty programs for seniors, military, women, men, children, adolescents, detox and substance abuse.

Board member William Love, who headed a committee to review SUN's proposal, said there is a major need for mental health services in Sussex County.

"It will help a lot of families who need it," he said. The Georgetown facility will be the only inpatient mental health facility in Sussex County.

"Currently, with zero beds accessible to those in Sussex County, they're traveling a good distance for care," said Steve Page, SUN president and CEO.

Groundbreaking on the 70,000-square-foot facility is planned for summer 2016, Page said. Construction is expected to take about a year, with an opening slated for summer 2017, he said.

The unanimous approval on Oct. 22 included four conditions for the facility, including policies and practices to avoid unnecessary admissions, reducing the risk of re-admissions, complying with the state's new electronic medical records services and a guideline for offering charity care.

SUN Behavioral Health will invest about $20 million in the project and expects to see positive revenue within two years of operation.

The for-profit hospital will employ 60 full-time-equivalent employees when it opens, Page said, increasing to about 160 employees when the hospital is full.

Page said the SUN team initially was alerted of the need in Sussex County by existing hospitals - Bayhealth, Nanticoke and Beebe - and developed a plan for the number of beds based on the county's population compared to existing resources in Kent and New Castle counties.

"What people will find is it's actually a very quiet facility," Page said. "All of the activities will happen inside the facility. It doesn't look like a prison. It won't have a big barbed-wire fence. It looks more like a nursing home. It's a pretty quiet operation, actually."