Delaware’s “most vulnerable” residents will have a new long-term care hospital in about two years in Smyrna in what state officials say will be more like a home and less like an institution.
State and federal leaders celebrated with staff members and residents outside the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill in Smyrna on Aug. 21 at the groundbreaking for the new hospital. It will be built next to the current facility on Sunnyside Road.
“It’s been a long time coming but with these shovels in the ground, it’s real now,” said Josette Manning, secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.
Most residents at the hospital are housed in the Candee Building, which opened in 1961. It’s just west of the larger original building on the site, built in the early 1930s, the Pritchett Building. Pritchett is used mainly for offices and support services for residents.
What will the new Delaware Hospital for the Chronicall Ill include?
Expected to open in early 2027, the three-story building will be about 72,000 square feet.
The 120 beds will be in five “neighborhoods,” instead of the traditional institutional model “to create a resident-centered homelike environment,” Manning said.
“It’s got an abundance of natural light, beautiful landscaping and a setting that’s going to feel open and welcoming and restoring,” she said, with “state-of-the-art adaptive equipment to support both residents and staff.”
That includes eight bariatric rooms, additional lifts to improve safety and a system that replaces portable oxygen tanks with built-in, forced-wall air.
“Everything will be accessible in one safe and inviting environment,” she said, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, the kitchen and dining area, the canteen for snacks after dining hours and a multipurpose auditorium. Outside, three landscaped courtyards are planned.
Manning announced another improvement, which drew applause: a parking lot with 190 spaces.
“Parking has been a problem” for both staff and visitors, she said.
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Hospital resident Sandra Farina said the design of the new facility looks “amazing.”
“I’m happy,” Farina said. “It’s needed because this is not an institution to us. It’s a home.”
Where did the money come from for the new Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill?
The cost will be about $90 million for construction and equipment, with $50 million from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, $30 million from the state bond bill in 2023 and another $10 million in federal funds specifically for new equipment
As for what happens to the older buildings after the new hospital is built, Department of Health and Social Services Deputy Communications Director Tim Mastro said the department is “exploring several options,” but could not disclose any specific plans.
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Delaware governor thanks hospital staff and state leaders who supported facility
Gov. Matt Meyer thanked the hospital staff for their work and care for residents in an older facility especially during the difficult conditions of the pandemic.
“We owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude,” Meyer said.
The long-term care facility has a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Meyer credited all the leaders in the state who helped establish the home and hospital in the 1930s and those who have continued to support the facility through the years. Finally, he thanked former President Joe Biden, former Sen. Tom Carper, Sen. Chris Coons and former Representative, now Senator, Lisa Blunt Rochester for approving the American Rescue Plan Act funding about four years ago for the new hospital.
Meyer said when he meets with other governors, there’s always a friendly competition about what makes their states the best. He’s always able to say Delaware is the First State, the first to ratify the Constitution.
But he said this new hospital shows Delaware’s commitment to be the best in caring for the ill and elderly.
“I want to be No. 1 in how we treat the most vulnerable in our community,” Meyer said.
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, development and business news. Reach him at [email protected].