ChristianaCare plans southern Delaware health campus to expand access as Sussex County population grows

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With a rapidly increasing population in southern Delaware, Sussex County’s health care system is struggling to keep up. As more residents – especially older residents – arrive, they’ve added increased pressure on hospitals and medical facilities. That’s led to long wait times, a shortage of primary care providers and limited access to specialists.

Even with three major health systems – Beebe Healthcare, Bayhealth and TidalHealth – serving the area, many residents still face challenges getting timely care. In some cases, patients must travel long distances or wait weeks for appointments.

Parts of Sussex County are also designated as medically underserved, highlighting long-standing gaps in access to essential health services.

Now, ChristianaCare says it is taking steps to help close that gap.

The health system has submitted a note of intent to the Delaware Health Resources Board to develop a new health campus in Georgetown as part of $865 million in planned investments across the state.

The proposed campus would include a health center offering primary care, specialty care, behavioral health and other outpatient services, along with a neighborhood hospital featuring eight emergency beds and eight inpatient beds.

“It’ll be anchored with primary care, but also supported with specialty care, behavioral health, as well as other outpatient services such as imaging, to help support the community down in Sussex County,” said Vinay Maheshwari, physician executive for Growth and Strategic Partnerships for ChristianaCare. “Our intention within the Sussex county region is to, one, expand areas such as cardiovascular, neurology, and cancer care. We also may add some additional specialty services such as pulmonology.”

“That will be partly on the Georgetown campus as well as in other areas of Sussex County including Rehoboth,” he added. “We also want to sort of recognize or call out the need for behavioral health services, which is a very significant growing need across the state of Delaware, but particularly in Sussex County as well.”

Sussex County’s growing and aging population makes it critical to expand local access to care, ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin said in a statement.

“This new campus will help close gaps in access by bringing high-quality, equitable and more convenient care directly into the community that needs it most,” Nevin said. “Our goal is simple: ensure that every Delawarean can access the care they need, in the right place at the right time.”

The new facility aims to reduce the need for residents to travel long distances for treatment and connect patients more closely to ChristianaCare’s regional hospitals for advanced specialty care.

ChristianaCare will partner with Emerus Holdings on the neighborhood hospital portion of the project. Vic Schmerbeck, CEO of Emerus, said the collaboration is designed to build a care model centered on community needs.

The 42,000-square-foot campus is planned to sit on 20769 DuPont Blvd. in Georgetown and is expected to open in late 2028. The project is estimated to cost $65.1 million.

While ChristianaCare already provides primary care, specialty care, virtual services, and home health and hospice care in Sussex County, officials say more capacity is needed as demand continues to rise.

State projections show Sussex and Kent counties could see an 8% population increase by 2030, with a significant rise in residents ages 65 and older.

ChristianaCare says it will also continue exploring opportunities to expand access to care in other parts of Delaware, including Kent County.