The following article appeared in the Delaware Health & Fitness Digest 2009.
Local hospitals are constantly improving care of patients with cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Surgical technologies are state of the art. Care of new mothers and their babies is unsurpassed. What’s more, many offer free health screenings and counseling. Think there’s nothing more a hospital can do for you? Read on.
The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
1600 Rockland Road, Wilmington, 651-4000
www.KidsHealth.org
The Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is a division of Nemours, which operates one of the nation’s largest health systems devoted to pediatric care, teaching and research. The 180-bed hospital offers a wide range of services provided by 4,100 professionals including 420 specialty and subspecialty physicians and surgeons.
Nemours is known for its integrated multi-specialty group that uses cutting-edge technologies including pediatric robotic surgery. The Nemours Children’s Clinic provides the physician services of the hospital at its main campus and at locations throughout the area. Together the duPont Hospital and NCC are the academic partner of Thomas Jefferson University and the pediatric provider to the Jefferson Health System.
Bayhealth Medical Center
Bayhealth Medical Center formed in January 1997 when Kent General Hospital, founded in 1927, and Milford Memorial Hospital, founded in 1938, merged to create a not-for-profit health-care system dedicated to improving the health status of all members of the Bayhealth community.
Now central and southern Delaware’s largest health-care system, Bayhealth is comprised of Kent General and Milford Memorial Hospitals, Middletown Medical Center and numerous satellite facilities, with more than 2,900 employees and 430 physicians.
As a leader in providing superior patient care, Bayhealth continues to improve services, expand programs and reach out to new communities. This commitment to excellence has been recognized both statewide and nationwide.
HealthGrades, the nation’s leading health care ratings organization, presented Bayhealth with the 2009 clinical excellence award for overall critical care, placing Bayhealth’s clinical outcomes in the top 10 percent nationally for each recognized area of care. Bayhealth was also ranked Best in Delaware for cardiac surgery, for cardiology services, for overall critical care and for overall cardiac services. In 2008, Bayhealth was named one of the nation’s Distinguished Hospitals by J.D. Power and Associates for providing an “outstanding inpatient experience.”
Both Kent General and Milford Memorial hospitals offer support groups for patients and families dealing with conditions such as cancer and diabetes. Educational programs provide classes and information on tobacco cessation, childbirth, infant care, early pregnancy and more.
Both hospitals offer free weekly blood pressure and diabetes screenings and frequently provide free or low-cost screenings for breast, prostate, skin and colorectal cancers as well as stroke and osteoporosis assessments and health risk appraisals.
Residents may call Bayhealth’s Physician Referral Line at 1-866-Bay-Docs or visit www.bayhealth.org to find physicians and services to meet their needs.
Kent General Hospital
640 S. State St., Dover, 674-4700
www.bayhealth.org
Kent General Hospital is currently in the midst of a $168 million, 400,000 square foot expansion that will redefine the level of health care available to residents of central Delaware.
The expansion will consist of a new emergency department that will double the size of the existing facility with shell space for future growth, an integrated cancer center that will bring radiation and medical oncology together, a welcome center, a central utility building and a 375-car parking garage. Construction is expected to be complete in 2011.
Kent General Hospital offers a comprehensive array of services to central Delaware residents, including heart care, birth services, neonatal care, cancer care, inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical care, a 24-hour emergency department, and intensive, intermediate and coronary care.
Cardiac surgery procedures include coronary artery bypass grafts and heart valve repair and replacement. Interventional cardiology services include therapeutic cardiac catheterization and balloon angioplasty.
Kent General’s two-story Women’s Center provides state-of-the-art women’s services and improves high-risk deliveries and critical care to neonatal infants. All maternity rooms are private.
Patients meeting certain criteria may also participate in Bayhealth’s cancer clinical trials. Kent General was the first facility in Delaware to offer IMRT treatment for certain cancers.
Diagnostic services include open MRI, PET CT, and general X-ray services. In March 2006, Bayhealth became the first medical facility in the region to offer an advanced technology for the screening and diagnosis of many illnesses and injuries, particularly heart disease.
Other services include a sleep disorders center, Lifestyles Fitness Center, respiratory and neurodiagnostic services, and physical, occupational, aquatic and speech therapies.
Milford Memorial Hospital
21 W. Clarke Ave., Milford, 422-3311
www.bayhealth.org
The award-winning Milford Memorial Hospital offers a wide range of services to the residents of southern and central Delaware, including diagnostic imaging, family-centered birth services, cancer care, rehabilitation services, inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical care, and a 24-hour emergency department.
Milford Memorial’s Total Joint Center opened in February 2006 to provide specialized orthopedic care for patients recovering from joint replacement surgeries in a patient-centered, healing environment.
Milford Memorial’s state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging center offers PET and CT scans, MRI (including open MRI at the Outpatient Imaging Center), nuclear medicine and EKG tests, as well as laboratory and X-ray services.
Mothers-to-be can benefit from the warmth and convenience of giving birth and recovering in the same room: a labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum suite.
In January 2002, a comprehensive, 12,000-square-foot cancer center opened in Milford, providing radiation therapy and chemotherapy services under one roof, as well as the opportunity to participate in clinical trials.
The Inpatient Rehabilitation Center at Milford Memorial is a program unique to southern Delaware and offers a comprehensive therapy program dedicated to the treatment of individuals impaired by stroke, neurological disorders, accidents, arthritis and other disabling impairments. Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the Inpatient Rehabilitation Center recently received a 2007 W. L. (Bill) Gore Award of Excellence.
Milford Memorial’s many other services include a sleep disorders center, Lifestyles Fitness Center, and other rehabilitation services, including occupational therapy, speech pathology and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.
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Beebe Medical Center
424 Savannah Road, Lewes, 645-3300
www.beebemed.org
Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit hospital, specializing in cardiovascular and oncology care, women’s health and orthopedics.
The hospital was founded in 1916 by Drs. James Beebe and Richard C. Beebe. The hospital, licensed for 210 beds, recently opened a new wing that includes a spacious, 37-bed emergency department that’s twice its former size, a 20-bed, critical care unit on the second floor, a 42-bed inpatient suite on the third floor, and a high-tech helipad perched in the air above the rooftop.
Beebe participates in many community events, and the Community Health Department provides cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure and other free screenings. Support programs are offered for patients with diabetes, cancer and other diseases. Beebe’s Department of Integrative Health offers relaxation and life-enhancement programs to help people cope with stress and improve overall health.
Christiana Care Health System
Christiana Care Health System is one of the region’s largest health-care providers, serving Delaware and neighboring areas in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A not-for-profit teaching hospital, Christiana Care is recognized as a regional center for excellence in cardiology, cancer and women’s health services, as well as for its Level-I trauma care and Level-3 neonatal intensive care (both highest capability).
Christiana Hospital is the only Level-I trauma center between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Christiana Care includes two hospitals with 1,100 patient beds, a home health-care service, preventive medicine, rehabilitation services, a network of primary care physicians and an extensive range of outpatient services.
With more than 10,000 employees, Christiana Care is the largest private employer in Delaware and the 10th largest in the Philadelphia region. In 2007 Christiana Care had more than $1.5 billion in total patient revenue and provided the community with $35.7 million of free care and medicine.
The suburban campus includes Christiana Hospital (907 beds), the Center for Heart & Vascular Health, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, the Breast Center and Christiana Surgicenter.
The Wilmington campus includes Wilmington Hospital (241 beds), Wilmington Hospital Health Center, the Center for Advanced Joint Replacement, the Center for Rehabilitation and the Roxana Cannon Arsht Surgicenter.
Throughout Delaware, Christiana Care operates 16 school-based health centers, Home Health & Community Services—Visiting Nurse Association and two Alzheimer’s day programs.
In New Castle County, Christiana Care operates the Eugene du Pont Preventive Medicine & Rehabilitation Institute, 17 primary care centers (including two in New Jersey), nine Physical Therapy PLUS sites (including two in Kent County) and 10 imaging services locations (including one in Kent County).
Individual hospitals are described below. Find more information at www.christianacare.org.
Christiana Hospital
4755 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, 733-1000
www.christianacare.org
The 907-bed Christiana Hospital runs a Level-I trauma center, as well as a heart health center that offers the latest techniques for heart- and vascular-disease prevention. HealthGrades, which provides quality-care ratings, named Christiana Care the best in cardiac services. The hospital’s Women’s and Children’s Health Services is one of the country’s busiest maternity sites, with more than 7,200 babies born every year.
Helen F. Graham Cancer Center
4701 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark
www.christianacare.org
Christiana Care’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center centralizes a vast array of outpatient services under one roof, making cancer care more convenient and effective. Located on the Christiana Hospital campus, the center features unique multidisciplinary medical services that include teams of specialists who work to create the most appropriate and effective treatment plan. In addition, the center offers cancer research clinical trial opportunities and provides patients and their loved ones a full complement of support services.
Eugene du Pont Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute
3506 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, 661-3000
www.christianacare.org
Christiana Care’s Eugene du Pont Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute offers a full range of programs designed to promote health, prevent disease and minimize disability. Medical professionals on staff teach the skills for a lifetime of healthy living. This location offers nutrition and fitness assessments and counseling, diabetes support and education services, weight management programs, psychology services, mind-body classes, alternative medicine therapies, smoking cessation and stress reduction programs.
Wilmington Hospital
501 W. 14th St.
Wilmington, 733-1000
www.christianacare.org
Wilmington Hospital’s Health Center is the main provider of outpatient services to the city of Wilmington, with more than 66,000 patients a year.
The hospital also runs a rehabilitation facility and a joint-replacement center, a full selection of behavioral health and psychiatric services, speech and hearing services, an eye center and a sleep disorders center. The hospital offers 24-hour emergency medical care, including a special unit for psychiatric emergencies.
Page 3: More hospitals
Riverside Transitional Care
700 Lee Blvd., Wilmington, 765-4400
www.christianacare.org
This 108-bed subacute facility in Wilmington treats patients who no longer need acute care services but still require skilled medical care as they transition to home. Riverside specializes in care for ventilator dependent patients, complex wound care and short-term rehabilitation.
Nanticoke Memorial Hospital
801 Middleford Road, Seaford, 629-6611
www.nanticoke.org
Nanticoke Memorial Hospital was incorporated in 1945 by a group of citizens concerned by the lack of health-care facilities in western Sussex County. Over the years, involved citizens and a progressive administrative team have continued to direct the course of Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and its affiliates, organized under the corporate title of Nanticoke Health Services.
What started as a 32-bed hospital in 1952 has grown to include extended care, business services, outpatient services, medical centers across Sussex County, and a host of preventive medicine and health education programs. Each part of Nanticoke Health Services works together to fulfill the mission: “We exist to positively impact our communities’ quality of life through improved health status.”
Nanticoke Health Services is committed to providing superior care at an affordable price. A member of the Maryland Quality Improvement Project, which compares the quality of care among 900 hospitals across the United States, Nanticoke Health Services consistently receives high ratings. At the same time, feedback from patients overwhelmingly compliments the staff. Dedication to patients is evident in a well-planned, coordinated system of care.
Nanticoke can treat families across the complete spectrum of their needs. Growth is evident not only through the continued addition of medical programs, but also through successful physician recruitment—40 physicians in the past 15 years.
As the communities’ health-care needs change, Nanticoke Health Services will change. Recognized nationally for its accomplishments by organizations such as the American Hospital Association and The Center for Case Management, the staff welcomes the opportunity to meet everyone’s health-care needs.
St. Francis Hospital
701 N. Clayton St.
Wilmington, 421-4100
www.stfrancishealthcare.org
St. Francis, a member of Catholic Health East and Delaware’s only Catholic hospital, has been serving Wilmington and Northern New Castle County since 1924. Services provided include the St. Francis Heart Center, 24-hour emergency services with fast-track minor emergency care, ambulance service, a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence, da Vinci Surgical System, Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, Wound Care, Sleep/Neurodiagnostics Center, Pain and Spine Center, Home Care, Skilled Nursing Facility, Rehabilitation, Imaging Services, Comprehensive Women’s Services and three community outreach programs. St. Francis Hospital is affiliated with the St. Francis Foundation and the Franciscan Care Center at Brackenville.
Wilmington VA Medical and Regional Office Center
1601 Kirkwood Hwy., Wilmington
(800) 461-8262, ext. 5212
The Wilmington VA Medical and Regional Office Center provides primary, secondary and tertiary care to more than 20,000 veterans and serves as a quality teaching health-care organization. The hospital has 58 beds; the nursing-home care unit has 60 beds. Most medical and surgical subspecialty care is available, from acute to extended inpatient or outpatient care.
For information on health care and eligibility, veterans can call (800) 461-8262, ext. 5212. For other benefit information, veterans should call (800) 827-1000.
