It has been a busy week for the healthcare provider formerly known as Beebe Medical Center.
On Tuesday, Beebe Medical Center announced that it changed its name to Beebe Healthcare.
With 6 out-patient locations beyond Beebe’s main campus in Lewes and the Beebe Home Health Agency providing home care since 1985, many people in the organization and community began to feel that the term “medical center” did not accurately describe all of the services that Beebe provides.
“We are becoming more than just a hospital where people go when they are sick,” said Jeffrey Fried, President and CEO of Beebe Healthcare. “We are helping people to prevent illness and disease through our health education and screening programs. We also are collaborating and partnering with other local organizations to improve the health of all of the people who live in Sussex County.”
The name change announcement coincided with Beebe Healthcare opening its new Outpatient Services Facility at the College Park Medical Pavilion in Georgetown Tuesday.
The new facility offers medical imaging, rehab services, a primary care physician’s office, a walk-in care center, and an express medical laboratory that doesn’t require appointments.
Fried says that Georgetown expansion fits in with their mission to make Sussex county one of the healthiest counties in the country.
“The people in Georgetown have to travel quite a distance for medical services,” said Fried. “Our efforts to want to make it easier for people to access health care services, it seemed like a logical place to expand.”
Beebe Healthcare also announced this week it’s partnering with the University of Delaware on a program for nursing students in Sussex County. Students in the new program will enter UD’s Georgetown campus’ Associate in Arts Program with an advisement track preparing them to enter Beebe’s Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing in Lewes.
After completing the Beebe registered nursing program, students have the option of going to UD’s main campus in Newark for one more year to complete a Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
With the Nursing school directly connected to Beebe’s main campus in Lewes, Fried says the program will help more students get valuable hands-on experience at Beebe’s nursing school.
“When nurses graduate from any program they have to take a national licensing exam. Over the years our nurses have traditionally scored very very well on that test,” said Fried. “We believe because they do get such a strong clinical experience with our school.”
Recruitment is now underway for the nursing program which will start in the Fall of 2014.
Fried says that everyone at Beebe is excited about all of this week’s changes.
“We expect that we will continue to see Beebe evolve as time goes by,” said Fried. I think all of these changes are really helping to position Beebe in a leadership role in these areas.”