Why Should Delaware Care?
Both Kent and Sussex counties are designated health care shortage areas by the federal government, with residents experiencing access barriers. ChristianaCare is looking to enter one of those shortage areas with a new campus in Camden as part of a larger statewide expansion.
ChristianaCare, Delaware’s largest hospital system, announced on Thursday it plans to build a $58.1 million health campus in Kent County, continuing its push into contested southern market areas. The hospital’s announcement also comes two months after it said it would build a campus in Georgetown.
The new 38,000‑square‑foot campus would open in Camden about a mile from the Walmart on U.S. Route 13. The healthcare giant also said in a statement the new campus would offer both emergency and inpatient beds, as well as primary care and outpatient services.
It hopes to open the facility by late 2028 or early 2029.
“We are investing in facilities that bring care closer to where people live,” outgoing ChristianaCare CEO Dr. Janice Nevin said in the statement. “This campus reflects our commitment to ensuring every Delawarean, no matter their ZIP code, can count on timely, compassionate, high-quality care close to home.”
ChristianaCare also said the new facility would bring 83 new jobs. As it has done with other recently announced ventures, ChristianaCare positioned its expansion as a means of supporting Delaware’s growing and aging population.
Two of southern Delaware’s largest health systems Beebe and TidalHealth did not respond to an immediate request for comment about ChristianaCare’s growing expansion into southern Delaware.
Kent County’s primary hospital system, Bayhealth, said in a statement it “remains focused” on providing care to its patients. But the hospital also said care should not be “fragmented.”
“We recognize that patients across Delaware are looking for faster access to care,” a spokesperson for the hospital said in an email. “Equally important is making sure that care is not fragmented and delivered in the right setting so patients receive what they need without unnecessary cost or complexity.”
During the hospital’s certificate of public review process, where ChristianaCare will pitch state regulators why this expansion is necessary, Bayhealth said it will “actively participate” by sharing data and ways to address cost, access and quality of care in the area.
While Beebe and TidalHealth have yet to comment directly on Thursday’s expansion announcement, they did discuss regional trends at Spotlight Delaware’s inaugural Health Care Summit on Wednesday.
Steve Leonard, the CEO of TidalHealth which operates the Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford, said he’s not opposed to competition in the region, but that new services should be weighed against their impact on the entire healthcare ecosystem.
TidalHealth does not have a presence in Kent County, but as other hospital systems like Bayhealth and Beebe expand across Sussex County, he said it is indicative of the state’s growing population and need for services.
“I think when people come in and compete, it’s not a bad thing,” Leonard said during a panel discussion. “The population’s growing, I mean that’s the reality.”
Dr. William Chasanov, who is Beebe’s chief health systems design officer, said he supports competition in the rapidly growing region, but that there should be more coordination around what services are offered where.
“Competition makes us all better to do a better job for the community that we serve,” Chasanov said during a panel. “I also believe that healthcare is … a finite resource, so we all do have to be very careful about what services that we offer.”
Recent expansion
In recent months, ChristianaCare 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.
In February, the healthcare 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 healthcare system expects its new Georgetown facility — which would offer emergency beds, behavioral, specialty and primary care — to open by 2028. It is partnering with developer Emerus Holdings to build the facility at 20769 DuPont Blvd., just south of the Bridgeville Road intersection.
After its failed bid to merge with Southern New Jersey’s Virtua Health, the Georgetown and Camden plans indicate that ChristianaCare sees more opportunity in its own backyard, and is willing to disregard the loose geographic monopolies that healthcare systems have enjoyed in Delaware for decades.
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.
ChristianaCare’s new expansions into Delaware’s southern counties also comes as federal funds begin to flow into the state to support and expand rural health initiatives.
Since 2020, ChristianaCare also 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.
