MILTON, Del. - Bayhealth is making plans to do more than just put a band-aid on a growing health care issue in Sussex County. The Delaware Health Resources Board has given a preliminarily approval to a combination emergency department and walk-in care center along Route 9.
Bayhealth plans to build a 40,000 square-foot facility on an 18-acre property at Route 9 and Hudson Road to bring more primary care physicians, specialists, walk-in and emergency care and diagnostic services to southern Delaware. President and CEO Terry Murphy says planning towards construction is at full speed with the goal to have the outpatient center and emergency department fully operational within 2 years. "In Kent and Sussex County, the physician-population ratio is a big challenge," Murphy says. Murphy says Bayhealth hears about that challenge everyday, which has lead to construction plans for the new outpatient center. "It's going to be a very complex facility, but very easy to access, which people will be able to access on the emergency room side and the other side will be for physician offices and an outpatient testing area," Murphy says. Bayhealth bought the land in 2018 and submitted a certificate of public review in 2019 for a freestanding emergency department as part of the outpatient center. "We withdrew that application to address what we thought were some concerns of the state as it relates to the cost implications," Murphy says. The new plans come with a fresh approach and a $35 million price tag. "That includes what is called a hybrid emergency department, which basically if you come into the emergency room, but you have a non-emergent condition, you would be sent to an urgent care side and wouldn't be charged an emergency room site," Murphy says. In developing the 18 acres, Murphy says Bayhealth will work with developers of nearby planned communities and DelDOT. He says part of the reason for choosing this location was that there was already a traffic light at the intersection. "Where we've located was very specific to where the growth was going to be going in the next five to ten years and into the future and if you do a pinpoint one or two miles around that location, there's very very few medical services already being provided," Murphy says. Murphy says the new facility would create 50 to 75 jobs. In addition to that, he says Bayhealth was approved to become the first teaching organization in Kent and Sussex County in 2021 to offer graduate medical education to teach physicians. He hopes this would bring more medical professionals to the area.
