Ma-Ran Foundation donates $3M to Beebe Healthcare

Beebe Healthcare will create medical education programs thanks to a $3 million gift from the Ma-Ran Foundation.

The donation was made in memory of R. Randall Rollins, a business leader and philanthropist who died in 2020. Randall and his wife Margaret H. Rollins – the Ma in Ma-Ran – have provided several significant donations to Beebe over the years. 

In honor of the most recent gift, Beebe will name the program the R. Randall Rollins Center for Medical Education.

“With this wonderful gift, the Rollins family continues their strong and loyal commitment to Beebe Healthcare and our education programs,” said Tom Protack, Beebe Medical Foundation president. “Having both our Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing and our medical education center named after both Mr. and Mrs. Rollins is a perfect marriage here on our historic Lewes campus.”

The Center for Medical Education will be housed in the historic Shaw Building, where Beebe has served the community for more than 100 years ago. The structure will be renovated to meet the needs of the incoming students.

“To have our physician residents and medical students walking the same floors as our co-founders Drs. James and Richard Beebe is appropriate and fitting,” Protack said.

The Shaw Building from the 1920s will remain intact, including the facade. Renovations include elements such as windows, doors and other interior refreshing, as well as some utility upgrades. The first floor will house the new residency program, which will include offices, conference classroom settings, resident lounge, etc. Currently, it holds a variety of offices and classrooms.

The education center will comprise three programs – a graduate program for third-year medical students, a post-graduate program for providers to stay on top of the latest guidelines and innovations in medicine, and a family medicine residency program. Beebe will welcome five third-year medical students this July. Four family medicine residents will join in July 2023, with a goal to have a full complement of 12 in the third year.

“Sussex County is growing, and Beebe is committed to match that growth to ensure there is access to the safe, quality and innovative healthcare that this county deserves,” said Dr. David Tam, Beebe Healthcare president and CEO. “As a physician CEO, I’m thrilled to know that every year, our award-winning Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing and now our R. Randall Rollins Center for Medical Education will produce healthcare professionals ready to serve our community.”

Tanya Ray, administrative director of graduate medical education, said the new center will provide well-rounded education opportunities. Medical students in rotation will gain the hands-on clinical experiences needed to fulfill their educational requirements for completing medical school, while family medicine residents will gain a full breadth of experience necessary to provide quality care to the community, she said.

“Beebe is super excited to open our doors to our medical students and future family medicine residents,” said Dr. Joyce Robert, the inaugural program director for Beebe Family Medicine Residency. “The Rollins family’s great heart and generosity will give Beebe an edge to address healthcare disparities, improve medical education and bring more physicians to Sussex County. I am honored to be part of this process and looking forward to the future of medicine.”

Robert joined Beebe in August 2021 to be a leader of the residency program while seeing patients at Beebe Family Practice Long Neck.

Joining Robert in the core leadership of the center are Dr. Jeffrey Hawtof, director of provider IT and medical education, and Dr. Michael Kalil, medical director of undergraduate medical education.

Tam said the new education center continues Beebe’s community-minded focus and mission.

“Sussex County is our specialty,” Tam said. “The Rollins family has always understood that, and I am grateful to their commitment to provide the best medical education that will serve Lewes and the entire county for many years to come. R. Randall Rollins was a great leader who believed in helping others grow in their profession and successes, and now we will be able to do that in an even greater way at Beebe Healthcare.”