Beebe doctors: Physician shortage will worsen with passing HB 350
As physician leaders at Beebe Healthcare, with deep connections to Delaware and Sussex County, we are writing to share our concerns regarding the current House Bill 350. We firmly believe this bill will negatively affect our patients, access to healthcare across the state of Delaware, and disproportionately hurt our Sussex County community.
We entered medicine and chose Beebe as our home to practice because we believe in giving physicians a voice in decision-making. The existing structure at Beebe allows physicians like us to keep the needs of our patients at the forefront of everything we do. At Beebe, we pride ourselves on being physicianled, with our Board frequently turning to frontline providers for insights and guidance. Our physicians are deeply connected to this community and understand its needs intimately — no one knows Sussex County better than Beebe. The current version of HB 350 will shift decision-making abilities away from these frontline experts to a politically appointed group, hurting our patients and lowering the level of quality care in Sussex County.
Sussex County needs more physicians to care for our growing population. This loss of autonomy will impact our ability to recruit and retain physicians in the future, during a time when healthcare providers are already in high demand. As doctors ourselves, we know first-hand that physicians want to work for organizations where they have the autonomy to do what is best for the patient without the threat of political influence. We’re already working hard to satisfy the unique demands of Sussex County.
Our existing structure allows us to be agile and act swiftly in response to our changing community’s needs. HB 350 threatens to diminish physician influence and autonomy and could push physicians to practice in states where hospitals have the flexibility and power to build new programs that meet the unique needs of their patients and communities. This impact will be felt statewide, weakening an already depleted physician workforce pipeline and impacting our patients’ access to timely care.
Additionally, we are concerned about the loss of funds HB 350 would cause Beebe, directly impacting the level of care we can provide to our community. As a nonprofit, we provide millions of dollars in uncompensated care that our community desperately needs — more actually than is required of nonprofit hospitals. In 2023 alone, Beebe provided over $160 million in community benefit services across the county, including charity care, health promotion and outreach, research, community sponsorships, research and more. Under the current bill, Beebe is projected to lose over $60 million dollars in the next two years – this does not even factor in the additional $100 million of federal funds that would be jeopardized if this bill passes.
These losses would have a devastating impact on Beebe’s ability to provide these types of community benefits in the future.
Our highest priority as physicians is delivering top-quality healthcare to everyone who needs it. While we know that the rising cost of healthcare is a pervasive issue that requires a solution, stripping local hospitals and physicians of their budgetary decision-making power is not the answer.
We would encourage the legislature to take a broader look at factors affecting healthcare costs across the industry. Insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, etc. must work together to solve these issues — not hospitals alone. An approach that tackles the true, wide-ranging costs of healthcare is necessary for a long-term solution.
For all the reasons stated above, we ask that you vote against HB 350 in its current form and work with hospital leadership to create a bill that addresses rising costs while allowing hospitals to retain their autonomy. Thank you.
Paul R. Sierzenski, MD, MSHQS, CPE, FACEP, is Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Beebe Healthcare. His healthcare career began in Newark, Delaware. Bill Chasanov, DO, MBA, FACP, is the Chief Health Systems Design Officer at Beebe Healthcare. He grew up in Milford and cares deeply for this community.