Joplin to get new hospital
A lot of rebuilding has been happening in Joplin, Mo., following the May 22 tornado that devastated the community. Soon to be added to the lengthy list of projects is a new hospital to replace the destroyed St. John’s Regional Medical Center.
Mercy, the Catholic health system that operates the Joplin hospital, announced that it will commit more than $950 million to build a new hospital and an additional campus in the city by 2014.
“We are making this commitment because it’s the right thing to do for Joplin,” said Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy in a statement. “The May 22 tornado devastated our community here in Joplin and destroyed our hospital but we’ve promised all along we would rebuild. We plan to break ground January 2012 and open the new hospital, as well as a secondary northeast campus, in 2014.”
[See also: Slideshow: St. John's Regional Medical Center after the Joplin tornado.]
Among the many scenes of destruction caused by the six-mile-wide tornado that pummeled Joplin, the images of St. John’s Regional Medical Center stick out because hospitals are often seen as invincible buildings. The tornado’s force exploded the hospital’s windows, buckled ceiling panels, ripped doors off hinges, stripped parts of the exterior away, knocked out its electricity and its back-up generators, sucked people out of windows and pockmarked its façade with the force of the debris hurled at it.
St. John's Regional Medical Center is operating as a 29,000-square-foot mobile medical unit temporarily while a prefabricated component facility is constructed, reported the Joplin Globe. The prefabricated facility will be used until the new hospital is built.
Mercy’s new Joplin facility will begin with 327 beds and expand up to 424. The facility will include medical surgical, critical care, women’s/children’s, behavioral health and rehab services.
"At this point, it is not possible for us to predict what the ultimate cost of business interruption and coverage will be; that will take many years to determine," said Randy Combs, Mercy's chief information officer.
The new St. John’s will be paid for by insurance settlements, which are expected to cover most of the losses – facilities, capital equipment and interruption of business operations. Additional funding from federal and state programs and charitable giving should cover the rest. To date, $1.3 million for worker relief efforts and just over $750,000 in in-kind donations has been received. Mercy said more offers and gifts come in regularly and it will reach out to the community for support as needed.
"We are blessed with very dedicated and talented physicians, co-workers and leaders, which has been absolutely essential to our ability to dedicate the time and resources needed to recover from the impact of the storm, both in terms of interim and long-term solutions," said Combs.
"Naturally, during this recovery and rebuilding process we are incurring substantial ongoing operating costs, as well as significant capital costs to construct and maintain new facilities and services," he added. "We have also committed to keep our physicians, co-workers and leaders in Joplin on the payroll through the rebuilding process, which will be approximately three years long."
Mercy has kept St. John’s employees on the payroll by shifting them to its other facilities, said Mercy spokesperson, Beth Pope. Some hospital employees have been "loaned" to non-Mercy facilities through "talent sharing agreements," said Combs. "These agreements allow these co-workers and physicians to continue to be employed during the rebuilding process and to contribute their experience and skills to community healthcare needs. The agreements also allow Mercy to retain these individuals during the rebuilding process for the benefit of the Joplin community long-term, while at the same time helping us defray some of the costs associated with keeping everyone on the payroll."
Follow associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.
