Dr. James Beebe Reflects Back With Pride with Venture Into Retirement

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, founder of Beebe Medical Center, and his father, a surgeon who practiced at Beebe for nearly 50 years, James (Kirk) Beebe, MD, joined Beebe Medical Center in September 1981 as a board-certified family physician. He was eager to make a difference in the community he calls home.

And he did just that … serving Sussex County as a trusted physician who simply loves to take care of people. In April 2025, Dr. Beebe retired, after devoting more than 4 decades of his life to the practice of medicine.

“I loved my job,” said Dr. Beebe. “Sometimes the phone would ring at 2 a.m., and I would need to get up and moving because a patient needed me. But it was worth it. When you have a relationship with that person because they have chosen you as their doctor, you are vested. You want to get up and head to the hospital at 2 a.m. to help.”

Over the course of his career, Dr. Beebe lived through tremendous change in the healthcare environment. When his work at Beebe began, only about 40 physicians were part of the medical staff. Patient records were maintained on paper. Many of the physicians met regularly for lunch in the Doctors’ Dining Room. They offered office hours on Saturdays and Sundays. As the medical staff grew, hospitalist groups emerged, urgent care centers opened, and electronic medical record systems were introduced, Dr. Beebe’s “typical day” started to look a bit different. But his commitment to delivering top notch care for patients, with the right systems in place inside his practice to serve them, remained the same.

“One of the things I am most proud of is the way our practice handled communication with patients, and how we made it a priority to respond quickly when patients called with questions, concerns, or a need for an appointment,” said Dr. Beebe. “The team works incredibly well together to serve patients and also support each other. Birthday cakes and celebrations around special occasions in life make people feel special and valued.”

Upon his retirement, Dr. Beebe was helping a bit with labs, reports, documentation, and sign-offs, to assist as his former patients transitioned to new providers. But now, his “typical day” is more focused on personal hobbies and passions, along with family time. Dr. Beebe gets up early to get a two-mile walk in just about every morning. He and his brother, Richard, go sailing every Wednesday and Sunday. Keeping up with his four grandsons and their activities – from swimming and music lessons to baseball games both locally and in Maryland, are bringing Dr. Beebe a lot of joy.

He is continuing to support his wife’s passion for music; Linda is a singer in the band 33 1/3, that performs regularly at Irish Eyes in Lewes. And, travel is on the horizon, with trips to Lexington, Nashville, and Ft. Myers all planned for the upcoming year.

“I am keeping busy but also enjoying a slower pace,” said Dr. Beebe. “Life is good.”