GEORGETOWN, Del. — State agencies reviewed plans Wednesday morning for a proposed $65.1 million ChristianaCare health campus in Georgetown, marking an early step in a project the health system hopes will expand access to medical care in growing and underserved parts of Sussex County.
The proposed 42,000-square-foot campus would be built at 20769 DuPont Blvd. and is expected to open in late 2028 if the project receives the necessary approvals.
The campus would include primary care, specialty care and behavioral health services, along with a neighborhood hospital with eight emergency department beds and eight inpatient beds.
The Preliminary Land Use Service, or PLUS, review included comments from agencies including DelDOT, DNREC and DEMA. The agencies raised some minor issues but did not voice major objections to the overall project.
Two Delawareans spoke during the public comment portion of the PLUS meeting, both sharing concern over DNREC labeling the property as a Brownfield site. According to DNREC, a Brownfield property is a site that's had hazardous substances over time that need to be cleared before the site can be redeveloped. DNREC said they are monitoring the site and said the property is consistent with the 2025 Delaware Climate Action Plan.
At the PLUS meeting, the developer said they've coordinated with the conservation district for storm water management. The Office of State Planning said the proposed health campus is consistent with development there and said they have no objections provided the project meets code requirements of the town.
DelDOT said at the PLUS meeting that the proposed ambulance entrance on Route 113 is a "special entrance" so the agency will work with the developer, while noting another entrance is a town street so the agency has less say.
DART did not have comment at the meeting. The Fire Marshal and the town of Georgetown were not present.
The PLUS process is advisory and does not approve or reject the project. Comments from the state agencies will be sent to ChristianaCare by Sept. 24.
ChristianaCare says the project is intended to address longstanding gaps in access to health care in Sussex County, which has a growing and aging population and is designated by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration as a medically underserved area.
Sussex and Kent counties are projected to see an 8% population increase by 2030, with significant growth among residents 65 and older, according to ChristianaCare.
Jerome Clark, who lives in Georgetown and has chronic asthma, said the distance to medical care can be especially difficult when he is struggling to breathe.
“I would have to walk from here about 35 minutes. But with me not being able to breathe, it turns into an hour and 35 minutes.” Clark said.
Clark said the proposed campus would be extremely helpful if it opens as planned.
“If this came into existence in 2028 like it's supposed to, that would be fireworks in my life until the end of my life, because of the fact that it would be so convenient,” Clark said.
The proposed neighborhood hospital would be designed to handle most emergencies but would not include intensive care, operating rooms or delivery rooms, Dr. Vinay Maheshwari previously told CoastTV News.
The project is part of ChristianaCare's previously announced $865 million investment in Delaware over three years.
The proposal is also facing questions from another Delaware health system.
In an Aug. 14 letter to the Delaware Health Resources Board, Bayhealth asked state regulators to resolve legal and regulatory questions surrounding ChristianaCare's proposed neighborhood hospitals in Georgetown and Camden before moving forward with a substantive review.
Bayhealth questioned the use of the term “microhospital,” saying Delaware law does not provide a statutory definition for the term or establish specific legal characteristics, licensing requirements or operating standards for that type of facility.
Bayhealth did not allege that the arrangement violates Delaware law. Instead, it asked the Health Resources Board to determine whether the proposed structure complies with state requirements and requested that relevant ownership, operating and management agreements be provided for review.
Bayhealth has asked the board to defer further substantive review until those questions are resolved.
ChristianaCare declined to comment on the substance of Bayhealth's concerns while the matter is under state regulatory review.
“ChristianaCare is committed to serving patients closer to home and making high-quality care more accessible in the communities where they live,” the health system said in a statement. “Neighborhood hospitals, sometimes referred to as micro-hospitals, are an emerging model of care delivery designed to provide the right level of care, in the right place, at the right time.”
