Medical school in Sussex County? Leaders weigh in on Del. doctor shortage

Weeks said there’s just one primary care physician per 2,100 Sussex residents. That’s a significantly higher ratio than in Kent and New Castle counties.

Local leaders believe that bringing a medical school to Sussex County could be part of the solution. State Sen. Russell Huxtable, who represents the 6th District, said a medical school could help attract more doctors to a place that desperately needs them.

“One of the thoughts that people are having is if we establish a medical school in the fastest-growing county where we have additional challenges as far as health care’s concerned … it could help recruit those folks,” he said. “The three hospitals that are in Sussex County would be a great place for those folks to have their residencies, and it could help build the network of medical capacity within the county.”

While a medical school could help, Weeks emphasized that building one from the ground up is not realistic. Instead, the study suggested a partnership with an existing institution to open a branch campus and for hospitals in the area to support each other.

“What it did suggest, and it’s been done in several places around the country, is you align yourself with a current medical school that would consider opening … a branch campus,” Weeks said. “The critical infrastructure element, if you will, for a medical school [branch] is clinical rotations, clinical practice to get into a hospital and actually work with patients.”

The study found that no single health care system in the county — Beebe Healthcare, Bayhealth or TidalHealth — has enough resources on its own to support a medical school. However, if these three systems collaborate and combine their clinical resources for education, they would have the necessary capacity to make it possible, according to the study.

Despite enthusiasm for the idea, finding the money to build and sustain a medical school remains a major challenge.

“Probably the biggest challenge is just simply money,” Weeks said. “It’s just simply the money to build a medical school, simply the money to help the hospitals grow their medical education programs. Those two things, just the financing alone, that’s kind of a big lift.”