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Beebe Medical Center becomes Beebe Healthcare

Name change announced at opening of new Georgetown facility
October 29, 2013

Beebe Medical Center has changed its name to Beebe Healthcare, Jeffrey M. Fried, president and CEO, announced Tuesday, October 29, during the opening festivities of the new Beebe outpatient services in Georgetown.

“Our new name is more descriptive of the healthcare services that we provide throughout Sussex County, while remaining true to the Beebe heritage that we treasure,” Fried said. “Beebe has been more than a stand-alone, acute-care hospital for many years. For decades, Beebe has provided outpatient services in many locations, besides the hospital in Lewes. Beebe Home Health Agency has provided care to people throughout southern Delaware since 1985. And our network of physicians serves patients in multiple locations.”

In focus groups that took place in 2012, participants made clear that the term “medical center” did not describe the scope of services and geographic locations that Beebe provides. The decision was made to update the name.

“The name Beebe Healthcare also reflects the change in Beebe’s vision to focus on keeping people well. We are becoming more than just a hospital where people go when they are sick,” Fried said. “We are helping people to prevent illness and disease through our health education and screening programs. We also are collaborating and partnering with other local organizations to improve the health of all of the people who live in Sussex County.”

“Changing our name is a major milestone in Beebe’s evolution,” said the Hon. William Swain Lee, chairman of the board of directors. “Beebe’s growth into a healthcare system has occurred for years as we’ve taken proactive steps to expand and serve the community. In 1916, Beebe was a two-room hospital. It became a medical center as it grew and offered more medical services. Today, the name Beebe Healthcare signifies a community health system that provides sophisticated medical care across many locations.”

The opening of Beebe Healthcare’s new outpatient services in the College Park Medical Pavilion in Georgetown is an example of Beebe’s effort to make healthcare more accessible to people in Georgetown and the surrounding rural areas.

The new location offers:

• Beebe Lab Express to include: blood specimen collection and EKG. No appointments necessary

• Beebe Imaging to include: radiology, CT, MRI, ultrasound, bone density, and mammography

• Beebe Rehab Services to include: physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech/language pathology

• A Beebe primary-care physician’s office

• Beebe Walk-in Care center

The building is conveniently located in College Park, a new, mixed-use development at the intersection of Route 404 and Route 113, across the street from Delaware Technical Community College's Owens Campus. The development already houses La Red Health Services.

The new building in Georgetown represents an expansion, as Beebe has offered lab and imaging services in the city since the early 1990s. Georgetown is one of six locations, in addition to the medical center in Lewes, where people receive medical services.

Specialized care

As the population in southern Delaware has grown, Beebe also has expanded the breadth of specialized care it provides. A major addition was open-heart surgery and interventional cardiology, which began in 2007, and, more recently, electrophysiology services to correct heart arrhythmias. Today, most heart disease conditions can be treated locally at Beebe.

Beebe’s history of compassionate caring and advanced treatment for patients battling cancer at the Tunnell Cancer Center has earned respect and loyalty from patients and their families. And the aging population has benefited from award-winning orthopaedic services, including total hip and knee replacements and minimally invasive spinal surgery.

Partnering with the community

Beebe Healthcare remains an independent community health system with a vision of making Sussex County one of the healthiest counties in the nation. Beebe recognizes that it cannot achieve this goal on its own. Partnerships like the Healthier Sussex County initiative with Bayhealth and Nanticoke Health Services have been created to help coordinate health promotion and education. The new outpatient services offered in Millsboro are a collaboration with Mid-Atlantic Family Practice, offering a convenient site for people needing primary care, after hours walk-in care, lab services, and imaging.

“Physical access to care is an important first step that we have worked hard to achieve,” Fried said. “The next frontier in serving patients is true coordination with physicians and other providers working together to ensure the patient receives the right care in the right place at the right time. Beebe Healthcare and its staff of physicians are prepared to be that innovative leader.”

Beebe Healthcare is a not-for-profit community healthcare system with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health for the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities it serves. It offers multiple services throughout southern Delaware including a 210-licensed-bed hospital, a cancer center, and outpatient facilities at multiple sites providing lab, imaging, physical rehab services and walk-in care. For more information, go to www.beebehealthcare.org.

Editor's Note: The information here was provided by the public relations department of Beebe Healthcare.

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