More Quality Care Closer To Home: ChristianaCare Announces $865 Million in Planned Investments to Expand Access to Care for Delawareans

(WILMINGTON, DE – July 1, 2025) - Following a three-year period in which ChristianaCare invested more than $375 million in Delaware, the leading health care system in the state is now planning more than $865 million in new investments in Delaware over the next three years. At a time when there is uncertainty about the future of heath care in the U.S., ChristianaCare is doubling its investment in this community. The organization is sending a clear signal that it will lean in and do even more to support, expand and connect health care services across the state.  

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“Since our founding in Wilmington in 1888, ChristianaCare has always existed to serve our community with high-quality, compassionate care,” said Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH, president & CEO. “Our commitment to double our investment in our Delaware neighbors over the next 3 years is guided by the belief that providing care close to home—or even in the home—is how we improve health and make care affordable. And when a higher level of care is needed, we are there providing the best care in the best place at the best time.”

Many of these investments are expected to create significant economic impact, as well, in the form of new jobs and construction.

ChristianaCare’s strategy of growth and investment in the state of Delaware is guided by:

• A community health needs assessment that is conducted every three years, with substantial input from local communities and community leaders.
• ChristianaCare’s commitment to value-based care and population health.
• A recognition that an aging and shifting population means more patients requiring access to high quality care.

Dr. Nevin added, “By expanding the availability of convenient, high-quality care, we will continue to have an impact on the health of those in Kent, Sussex and New Castle counties through our focus on primary care; behavioral health; cancer care; and specialty, surgical, and rehabilitative care.”

Ultimately, this will enable ChristianaCare to fulfill its mission as a nonprofit health system for generations to come.

The first of these new investments to break ground will be the 87,000-square-foot ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown that is being planned on undeveloped land surrounding a freestanding Emergency Department. Construction of the health center is slated to begin in 2025, and the new facility is expected to open for patients in early 2027.

“ChristianaCare has been a great partner to the Middletown community, and we are excited to see the expansion of this campus in support of our growing population,” Middletown Mayor Ken Branner said. “The expansion is also projected to create a positive impact to the community with the expected addition of more than 70 full-time jobs.”

Other plans include expansion of ChristianaCare’s primary care, behavioral health, cancer care and specialty/surgical care footprint across the state, including the partnership announced last year with Atlas Healthcare Partners to create an ambulatory surgery center network in Delaware and across the mid-Atlantic region. Together, these and other projects will create new access to care for thousands of Delawareans.

“We look forward to announcing these projects in the year ahead and over the course of the next three years, and we want Delawareans to know that our commitment to your health is unwavering,” said Jennifer Schwartz, Esq., chief strategy officer. “We recognize that as we grow across the region, it’s vital that we never lose sight of our commitment to our home state. In fact, our growth across the region is an important way that we ensure our ability to continue to invest in the community and meet your needs.”

A Track Record of Strong Delaware Investment

In the past three years, ChristianaCare has invested $375 million in Delaware projects that expand access to care in the community and meet community needs in innovative ways. These investments include:

• ChristianaCare Pediatric Care Center (opened 2022): This 24/7 pediatric emergency center at the Center for Women’s & Children’s Heath at the Newark campus offers a calm, family-friendly environment for emergency and short-term inpatient care. It currently serves approximately 9,000 patients per year.
• ChristianaCare Sleep Center (opened 2023): This state-of-the-art sleep center on the Newark campus opened in 2023 and focuses on diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, aiming to improve patients' overall health and quality of life.
• MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound (opened 2024): This new noninvasive technology uses soundwaves to treat movement disorders like essential tremors and Parkinson’s tremors. It can provide life-changing results for patients, enabling them to regain their ability to perform simple daily tasks like writing and eating.
• ChristianaCare-GoHealth Urgent Care: In 2020, ChristianaCare partnered with GoHealth to build a new network of urgent care centers in Delaware. Today, that network includes 16 locations spanning New Castle and Kent counties. These centers provide convenient, fast access to medical care for non-life-threatening conditions.
• Select Specialty Hospital (opened 2022): Select Specialty Hospital – Wilmington, a critical illness recovery hospital (CIRH), is part of Select Medical’s nationwide network of more than 100 specialty hospitals. This 33-bed, all-private-room “hospital within a hospital” at ChristianaCare’s Wilmington Campus accepts referrals from short-term acute care hospitals with critically ill patients who require more healing and recovery time.

Alongside these investments, ChristianaCare continues to grow its primary care network, which today includes 36 practices, most of them in Delaware, supporting preventive care, sick care and chronic disease management for approximately 200,000 patients. This network of practices is powered by ChristianaCare’s investments in technology and infrastructure that support high-quality care and strong relationships between patients and their health care team. Additionally, the Hospital Care at Home program has created new options for acute care that were previously unthinkable: hospital-level care in the comfort of the patient’s own home. These past and upcoming investments are in addition to ChristianaCare’s community benefit investments.