OCEAN PINES– In a sparse field with just a few mounds of earth, with a little wooden framework visible and couple of empty front loaders standing by, county and local officials huddled under a tent on a rainy Friday last week to break ground on a new 20,000-square-foot health care complex.
The ceremony on Route 589 near Racetrack Road in Ocean Pines introduced area health care professionals and members of the media to the Delmarva Health Pavilion. Peninsula Regional Medical Center will anchor the new complex.
“We are really, really pleased to bring to this community a regional health care facility that’s looked upon in this area as a high-profile, excellent deliverer of health care and bring it directly to this community of Ocean Pines,” said developer Palmer Gillis of the development and construction firm Gillis Gilkerson
Gillis began eying the property more than 10 years ago and later went on to co-develop complexes in Woodbrook and Millsboro, Del. with PRMC.
“It’s kind of exciting to me to actually see the progress we’ve made so far, and to also be able to have such a quality occupant for this community,” Gillis said.
Speaking on behalf of PRMC, President and CEO Dr. Peggy Naleppa told the audience that the company is a long-term partner with the medical center.
The complex merges existing PRMC health care services, including a pair of family practices.
“As part of this, we’re consolidating the Berlin and Ocean Pines families and our medical practices,” Naleppa said. “Year after year they’ve been served very well on the medical side, but those patients, particularly in the Ocean Pines community, have written letters that said, ‘Can you please do something to help with the facilities at our offices?’ so this will certainly honor that request.”
Naleppa touted Delmarva Health Pavilion as offering Ocean Pines and Worcester County residents a “one-stop” option for health care.
“It may be rainy today, but our vision is very clear,” she said. “We have been in this community for over 25 years. We have a legacy and history with this community that’s extremely important to us.
“We know that health care is changing dramatically,” Naleppa continued. “We know that it’s moving outside of the walls of the hospital, and this complex is an example of how it’s moving outside of the walls and into the outpatient or the ambulatory arena. We can no longer build a hospital and expect people to come to us. We need to go to the patient, and that’s important for us.”
The first phase of planned health care services includes laboratories, diagnostic services, pharmacies, home care and cardio-vascular and pulmonary rehab services.
“That’s just the beginning,” said Naleppa. “The need for a wide range of health care services and chronic disease management – it isn’t just one-touch anymore when they come to the hospital. It’s holding their hand from the time that they’re born at our facility to the time that they transition to another setting. We want to hold that hand all along the way, and that’s why this is so very important to have that touch with the patient.”
The Delmarva Health Pavilion is set to open in spring or summer 2015.
The ceremony on Route 589 near Racetrack Road in Ocean Pines introduced area health care professionals and members of the media to the Delmarva Health Pavilion. Peninsula Regional Medical Center will anchor the new complex.
“We are really, really pleased to bring to this community a regional health care facility that’s looked upon in this area as a high-profile, excellent deliverer of health care and bring it directly to this community of Ocean Pines,” said developer Palmer Gillis of the development and construction firm Gillis Gilkerson
Gillis began eying the property more than 10 years ago and later went on to co-develop complexes in Woodbrook and Millsboro, Del. with PRMC.
“It’s kind of exciting to me to actually see the progress we’ve made so far, and to also be able to have such a quality occupant for this community,” Gillis said.
Speaking on behalf of PRMC, President and CEO Dr. Peggy Naleppa told the audience that the company is a long-term partner with the medical center.
The complex merges existing PRMC health care services, including a pair of family practices.
“As part of this, we’re consolidating the Berlin and Ocean Pines families and our medical practices,” Naleppa said. “Year after year they’ve been served very well on the medical side, but those patients, particularly in the Ocean Pines community, have written letters that said, ‘Can you please do something to help with the facilities at our offices?’ so this will certainly honor that request.”
Naleppa touted Delmarva Health Pavilion as offering Ocean Pines and Worcester County residents a “one-stop” option for health care.
“It may be rainy today, but our vision is very clear,” she said. “We have been in this community for over 25 years. We have a legacy and history with this community that’s extremely important to us.
“We know that health care is changing dramatically,” Naleppa continued. “We know that it’s moving outside of the walls of the hospital, and this complex is an example of how it’s moving outside of the walls and into the outpatient or the ambulatory arena. We can no longer build a hospital and expect people to come to us. We need to go to the patient, and that’s important for us.”
The first phase of planned health care services includes laboratories, diagnostic services, pharmacies, home care and cardio-vascular and pulmonary rehab services.
“That’s just the beginning,” said Naleppa. “The need for a wide range of health care services and chronic disease management – it isn’t just one-touch anymore when they come to the hospital. It’s holding their hand from the time that they’re born at our facility to the time that they transition to another setting. We want to hold that hand all along the way, and that’s why this is so very important to have that touch with the patient.”
The Delmarva Health Pavilion is set to open in spring or summer 2015.