In the blink of an eye, 2022 has gone and 2023 is now here. 

As we turn the pages on our calendars, I would like to take the opportunity to update the community on the work performed by Team Beebe in 2022. At this time last year, Sussex County was still in the harsh grips of another surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Beebe Healthcare again stepped up to care for the community in and outside of the hospital. By the end of 2022, we were all ready for the pandemic crisis to come to a close.

And it did – sort of. COVID-19 is still with us as the new year starts with double-digit patients admitted to Beebe’s Margaret H. Rollins Lewes Campus, in addition to RSV and flu. But there is a sense of relief that the overall severity of those who are infected is lower, and we know what to do and how to care for patients who are ill. 

Beebe also undertook a massive change in our health system as the specialty surgical hospital on the Rehoboth Health Campus opened in May. Beebe’s care team is now performing more surgeries at the new surgical hospital, while still operating at the Beebe Outpatient Surgery Center on that same campus and continuing our OR volumes at the Lewes Campus – Beebe Healthcare continues to see more patients than ever.

The Emergency Departments in Lewes and the South Coastal Health Campus near Millville continue to adapt, and serve patients and first responders. We were the first Delaware health system to start a Hospital at Home program in 2021, which continues to be a success for our patients and their families. Our Community Mobile Health Clinic has also hit the road to provide mental health and addiction services throughout Sussex County – taking care to the people who need it most.

Our outpatient services continue to grow as new physician offices are planned in Milton and Selbyville. A new Milford Health Center opened just last week too. We continue to actively recruit and welcome new providers, clinical staff, other team members and their families to Beebe Healthcare to support our growing community. 

The board of directors in June unveiled a new five-year strategic plan that gives Beebe Healthcare focus and direction for our future – simply put – to serve the people who live, work and visit in Sussex County as we have for more than 106 years.

I had the privilege of sharing all this Jan. 9, during my keynote address to an audience from around the state in Wilmington at the 186th Delaware State Chamber of Commerce dinner. I was proud to represent Beebe Healthcare and Sussex County, and our critical role in the future growth and success of the First State.  

But Beebe Healthcare will not rest on our laurels. Despite our hard work and laser focus, the winds of change continue to challenge us to do more for our community. In the coming year, Beebe will continue to recruit more physicians and providers to meet the needs of a growing and changing community. We will need to keep growing our facilities and geographic reach to serve more people near their homes and schools and places of work. I recognize that our Emergency Departments are busy and often overloaded, and we are committed to improving the patients’ experience – in fact, we have received approval from the State of Delaware to build a new hybrid freestanding adult and pediatric emergency department in Millsboro to help with the increasing volume of people moving to Sussex County.

I am committed to moving Beebe Healthcare forward and improving what we do. Respectfully, I ask the community for your continued support and help, working together to make your local, nonprofit independent community health system better. Each and every Celebrate Excellent Care story warms my heart, so thank you. 

Please help me recruit and welcome new providers and staff. And let’s work together on thinking about how to grow our own doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in the years ahead – right here in Sussex County. We can work as a community to fund and open new facilities that make access to quality healthcare easier and more equitable for all the people of Sussex County. I recognize that we have come a long way, but there is so much more to do. Let’s all strive to help our community become healthier and live more meaningful lives. 

We will do what Beebe Healthcare has done for over 106 years since the Beebe brothers started this great organization – focus on bringing high-quality healthcare to the people of Sussex County.

Happy New Year,

David