Delaware
Delaware officials push back on audit finding Port of Wilmington mismanaged
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A report released by Delaware’s state auditor found that the Diamond State Port Corporation Board, the quasi-public entity that oversees the Port of Wilmington, cost the state millions by failing to conduct proper oversight of the port, made misleading comments to the public and used outdated economic development to justify pouring millions in taxpayer funding into port expansion projects.
State Auditor Lydia York’s audit, which covers the fiscal years between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2025, got immediate pushback from Gov. Matt Meyer’s administration, former Gov. John Carney, who is now the mayor of Wilmington, and some state Senate Democrats. State officials and DSPC board members say the findings are “incomplete” and “inaccurate.”
York defended the report and her charge to provide transparency and accountability.
“This is the most comprehensive independent review of the DSPC’s operations since the state purchased the port in 1995,” York said. “I believe it sets a new standard for government transparency.”
The auditor announced the performance audit in February, sparked by the Carney administration’s transfer of nearly $200 million to the port for the Edgemoor container terminal project, the largest-to-date infusion of state money into the DSPC for the project. It happened less than a week before Meyer took office, during the two-week tenure of former-Gov. Bethany Hall-Long.
In February, York questioned the timing. A spokesperson for Meyer spoke to media outlets at the time, reportedly criticizing the lack of transparency and accountability of the move. On Friday, Meyer’s office did not respond to questions regarding whether the governor stood by those earlier statements. York said the transfer was legal.
“Today’s announcement confirms that transfer was fully lawful and affirms the Legislature has an important role — alongside the governor — to ensure the Edgemoor Port project can fulfill its promise as the most transformational economic development project in the history of our State,” said Delaware Sen. President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola and DSPC member and state Sen. Darius Brown in a joint statement on the report.
Delaware has a $635 million plan to rescue the Port of Wilmington by building a new port 2 miles north of the one that’s been in operation for a century and is known for handling fruit and automobiles. The project has been plagued by legal challenges from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and ports affiliated with Holt Logistics Corp., whose affiliates operate terminals in Philadelphia and South Jersey.
Port audit’s five findings
The audit found five ways the port corporation board fell short.
- Improper use of executive sessions
- Failure to hold transparency with members of the International Longshoremen’s Association
- Prior port operator Gulftainer USA’s failure to make payments under its 2018 contract, leading to massive state intervention
- Use of outdated economic impact data for the Edgemoor project.
- Poor oversight of Gulftainer USA
The audit report asserts that in January and September 2022, DSPC violated open meeting laws by not providing required public notice or by talking in secret when the items could have been discussed in public. The report also found the September closed door session did not discuss the items board members said were on the agenda.
Current DSPC Board President and Delaware Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez denied that the report’s findings were true.
Under the Meyer administration, since taking over as Chair, the DSPC has been fully committed to transparency and has provided over 300 files to the Auditor’s Office for the purpose of this performance audit. Despite being given full information, we are discouraged that the ‘findings’ contained significant factual inaccuracies which ultimately led to incorrect and potentially misleading conclusions,” she said in a statement.
Carney’s deputy chief of staff Daniel Walker told WHYY News that the mayor also does not believe the report is factual.
“Unfortunately, this audit is a distraction from the substantive progress made by new operator Enstructure and current efforts to expand the port and grow the good jobs there,” Walker said in a statement. “The focus should be on what it takes to make this expansion happen as soon as possible.”
York said that the DSPC board was given more than a month after completing the report to submit documentation that disproved the report’s findings, but none was provided to her team.
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
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Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
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