Nemours Children’s Health to invest $130M into DE facilities

WILMINGTON – Nemours Children’s Health will invest a record-breaking $130 million in Delaware alone next year on a groundbreaking Maternal and Fetal Health Program, expansion of its neonatology, cancer, and cardiology programs, and revitalization of the historic Institute building on the Alfred I. duPont Campus in Wilmington.

It’s the largest one-year capital investment in Delaware in Nemours history.

Nemours Children’s Health President and CEO R. Lawrence Moss, MD, said, “Every dollar earned by Nemours is invested back into our mission. These capital investments build on Alfred I. duPont’s legacy of stewardship, and our strong financial position helps further Nemours Children’s vision to create the healthiest generations of children in Delaware and beyond.”

Maternal and Fetal Health Program

Nemours plans to expand the Advanced Delivery Program at Nemours Children’s Hospital to include four new labor and delivery birthing suites, eight new antepartum and postpartum rooms, and three operating rooms that can be used for both fetal and maternal care.

The end result, officials predict, will be a state-of-the-art maternal and fetal health program.

“As maternal-fetal care advances, Nemours sees transformational potential to elevate the health of children and families in Delaware through improved diagnostics and cutting-edge maternal-fetal therapies,” says Dr. Kate Deans, surgeon-in-chief for Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley.

She added that when Delawareans have to leave the state to receive this level of care, it places an unnecessary burden on them to travel away from their other children and support networks.

Nemours commitment to a more comprehensive maternal-fetal health strategy has attracted distinguished specialists to expand its in-utero diagnostic and surgical interventions.

Over the next 15 months, Nemours will add three highly accomplished maternal-fetal medicine specialists to the team, including Dr. Eric P. Burgh, who works in the Department of Fetal Intervention for UT Health-Houston and will collaborate closely with the Advanced Delivery Program and Delaware executive team to expand Nemours existing care portfolio.

“We are laying the foundation here in Delaware to become the nation’s first multi-hospital, multistate children’s health system providing fetal diagnosis and therapy—and, ultimately, one of the country’s largest fetal medicine programs,” said Dr. Deans.

Program growth at Nemours Children’s Health

Delaware’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will expand in 2025, adding 14 new inpatient rooms. With this expansion, the NICU will house 45 beds as a contiguous unit.

With the support of a generous donation from the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation, Nemours plans to open the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders in early 2025. With further investment from Nemours with support from the Moseley Foundation, the Moseley Foundation Institute will also feature a 19,000-square-foot outpatient Day Hospital and Infusion Center—more than quadrupling its current size. In addition to providing a patient-centered care experience, the outpatient area is designed to foster clinical trial participation to advance the treatment of children with cancer, sickle cell disease, and other blood disorders.

Nemours has also named two distinguished new leaders to advance its Cardiology practice: Salt Lake City-based Dr. Aaron W. Eckhauser will become chair of Cardiovascular Medicine, chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and executive director of the Nemours Children’s Cardiac Center in the Delaware Valley; and Dr. Mark Twite will come from Denver to become chief of Cardiac Anesthesia and co-director of the Nemours Cardiac Center.

Revitalization of historic duPont Institute building

Nemours will continue revitalizing the original Alfred I. duPont Institute on its Wilmington campus as a state-of-the-art administrative office building while paying homage to its origin as the founding A.I. duPont Institute.

The Institute opened in 1940 as a children’s orthopedic hospital and was the original healthcare structure funded by the Nemours Foundation. In 1984, the first major hospital expansion on the Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware campus was complete. The 450,000-square-foot expansion of Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital opened in 2014.

The renovations will be completed mid-2026 and include an expanded, state-of-the-art Simulation Center to provide hands-on, interactive pediatric simulation experiences in a safe, realistic environment. This collaborative teaching and education enhance technical skills for care providers across the organization, improving the quality of care and leading to better outcomes.

“In the 80-plus years since our founding, Nemours has grown to become one of the nation’s most respected multistate children’s health systems,” said Nemours Children’s Health President Mark R. Marcantano. “Our commitment to Delaware’s families has only grown over the years, and that deep connection and partnership continues to advance the health of children in the First State.”

Nemours Children’s Health is one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two free-standing children’s hospitals and a network of more than 70 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours KidsHealth.org.

 

The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.