Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware’s largest hospital system is expanding both in and out of the state. On Monday, the hospital said it would spend $75 million to build a new inpatient rehabilitation facility as part of that expansion.
ChristianaCare announced Monday it is building a new $75 million inpatient rehabilitation facility for patients in need of physical, speech and occupational therapy near its Newark hospital.
The announcement comes as part of the hospital’s $865 million investment into health facilities across the state, and more than a month and a half after announcing plans for a new $65 million campus in Georgetown.
ChristianaCare said it would partner with the Pennsylvania-based Onix Group, a commercial real estate company that focuses on hotel and health care developments, on the project. Some of its properties include the Hyatt Place on the Wilmington Riverfront, Dover Town Center on U.S. Route 13, and Cadia Healthcare Silverside near Talleyville.
The new 92,000‑square‑foot facility would open in summer 2028, offering 73 beds for rehabilitation services and creating 122 new jobs.
ChristianaCare cited the state’s aging population as part of its reasoning for constructing the facility, as well as relieving pressure on Wilmington Hospital’s emergency department. At Wilmington Hospital, ChristianaCare runs its “Center for Rehabilitation,” where it offers treatment for patients recovering from strokes and other traumatic injuries.
The hospital said it would transfer the Center for Rehabilitation’s 40 beds to the new Newark center, and the space in Wilmington would be converted to an inpatient step‑down unit to free up space in the emergency room.
“As one of the highest-quality programs in the region, these services are in high demand,” said Bradley Sandella, clinical leader of ChristianaCare’s medical subspecialties service line, in a statement. “But our ability to grow has been constrained by the space limitations in Wilmington Hospital.”
A year of expansions
In recent months, the hospital has announced expansions both in and out of the state after saying last summer it would spend $865 million on new health facilities in the coming years.
Last month, the health care giant announced it aims to open a new $65 million campus in Georgetown. Months before that, it said it was building a health center dedicated to treating cancer in Middletown.
The health care system expects its new Georgetown facility — which would offer emergency beds, behavioral health care, specialty care and primary care — to open by 2028. It is partnering with health care-focused developer Emerus Holdings to build the facility at 20769 DuPont Blvd., just south of the Bridgeville Road intersection.
After a failed bid to merge with Southern New Jersey’s Virtua Health, the Georgetown plans could indicate that ChristianaCare sees more opportunity in its own backyard, and is willing to disregard the loose geographic monopolies that health care systems have enjoyed in Delaware for decades.
“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,” ChristianaCare’s CEO Dr. Janice Nevin said in a statement. “Our goal is simple: ensure that every Delawarean can access the care they need, in the right place at the right time.”
ChristianaCare’s new facility would also come as federal funds will soon start to flow into Delaware’s southern counties to support rural health, and the hospital system continues its expansion both in and outside the state.
Like up north with its new rehabilitation center, ChristianaCare framed its decision to expand into Georgetown as part of a commitment to serve Delaware’s aging population.
Its Middletown cancer center, which is slated to open in May 2027, would solidify its foothold in the suburbs south of the C&D Canal. The $92 million health center would bring primary care, behavioral health, pediatrics, neurology and cardiovascular care, among others.
Since 2020, ChristianaCare has ventured deeper into the suburban Philadelphia health market, purchasing defunct hospitals and building its own in the surrounding towns. The hospital system announced last year it would partner with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, better known as CHOP, leaving Delaware’s chief pediatric hospital, Nemours Children’s Health, on the sidelines.
However, late last year the hospital and New Jersey-based Virtua Health terminated a letter of intent they signed last summer that had signaled the health systems were considering merging in the coming years.
Combining the current ChristianaCare and Virtua Health footprints would have created a system covering more than 10 contiguous counties in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland, with more than 600 facilities, nearly 30,000 employees and more than 500 residents and fellows.
The deal also would have required numerous regulatory sign-offs in both states, pitting potential hurdles to completing the deal. That included a review by attorneys general in Delaware and New Jersey because both systems are not-for-profits.
In Delaware, the prospect of an out-of-state merger was met with skepticism from Gov. Matt Meyer, who challenged the move when asked about it at a July press conference.
“I think when any medical practice in Delaware, and especially nonprofit hospitals, get some positive return from serving Delawareans’ health, that money should be reinvested in Delaware, not in another state,” Meyer said.
