Beebe Healthcare welcomes new board of directors members

The Beebe Healthcare board of directors announced its newest members are Jack Berberian, Khalil Saliba and James Spellman, MD.

The board extends appreciation to retiring members R. Christian Hudson, Eric Sugrue and Mouhanad Freih, MD, for their dedication and contributions.

“I want to thank Christian, Eric and Dr. Freih for their vast contributions to Beebe and welcome our new directors,” said Mike Meoli, board chair. “Their deep connections to Sussex County, both personally and professionally, will be invaluable as we continue to advance Beebe’s mission.”

Berberian joins the board as a member of the finance and strategic planning committees. Throughout his career, he has successfully established and grown organizations including Legal Zoom HBS Inc., MedTix LLC and SecureNetMD, the region’s first healthcare IT company with an emphasis on electronic health record platforms. SecureNetMD’s clients include major hospitals, leading medical facilities and expanding campuses.

He is a member of the Delaware Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council, and serves on the boards of the USO, the Sussex County STEM Alliance and the Rehoboth Beach Yacht & Country Club Foundation.

Berberian takes the seat vacated by Sugrue, who served for eight years and was chair of the compensation committee.

A Lewes native, Saliba joins the board as chair of the Beebe Medical Foundation, and as a member of the executive and strategic planning committees. The Lewes native is well-known throughout the community and Beebe. His father, Dr. Anis K. Saliba, who passed away in March 2024, served for 33 distinguished years on Beebe boards.

Saliba founded Saliba Action Strategies LLC in July 2000 to provide business interests, trade associations and nonprofit organizations with targeted and personal representation in Washington, D.C. Previously, he served in the Bush administration as a special assistant at the Department of Energy, as a political aide to Republican National Committee Chair Haley Barbour, and at The Wexler Group, a government affairs firm.

Active in a host of community organizations, Saliba currently serves on the boards of the Greater Lewes Foundation and ACCESS, a nonprofit dedicated to developing affordable housing in eastern Sussex County. He was elected to Lewes City Council in 2021 and also serves as deputy mayor.

Saliba fills the seat held by Hudson, who served on the board for six years and was the prior Beebe Medical Foundation chair. He served on numerous committees.

Spellman was appointed to the board of directors in April and is co-chair of the quality and safety committee. An accomplished surgeon, researcher and author of professional articles in medical journals and books, Spellman has been a member of Beebe’s Medical Staff since 1996.

Having dedicated his career to the advancement of the surgical oncology field, Spellman has helped build a program that was one of the first in the region to offer advanced procedures, allowing many patients to receive care locally. He paved the way for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, stereotactic biopsy and sentinel node biopsy to be performed at Beebe. He has spearheaded numerous accreditations for programs developed at Beebe. Before coming to Delaware, Spellman was a member of the Department of Surgical Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute under the direction of Nicholas Petrelli, MD.

A fellowship-trained surgical oncologist, board certified in general surgery, Spellman is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the Society of Surgical Oncology. He earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and completed his residency at Stamford Hospital and his fellowship at the Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago.

Spellman takes over for Freih, who served six years on the board. Freih continues caring for interventional cardiology patients and advancing heart care in Sussex County.

“Beebe Healthcare is dedicated to caring for Sussex County during this tremendous time of growth and uncertainty in the healthcare landscape,” said Dr. David A. Tam, president and CEO. “Beebe remains strong and ready to take on these challenges thanks to the support and guidance of our board.”