Mercy Joplin sets March 22 open date for new storm-proof hospital

Workers install windows at Mercy Hospital Joplin (via Mercy Hospital)

More than 3 years after a tornado destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri, officials have set an opening date for a new hospital to replace the one destroyed by the storm.

The Mercy Hospital Joplin will open on March 22, the healthcare provider said on Friday, ending a $465 million project to build the new facility. McCarthy Building Companies, architectural firms HKS and Archimages, and engineers MEP Engineer Heideman & Associates all played a role.

[Also: See photos of the new Joplin hospital]

“Speed of delivery was of the utmost importance,” John Farnen, executive director of strategic projects for Mercy, said in a statement. “It took a truly collaborative effort to design and construct this hospital so quickly.”

The 890,000-square-foot facility replaces the St. John’s Mercy Regional Medical Center, which was devastated by the 2011 tornado. The new Mercy hospital was built to withstand the most powerful storms, featuring a 450-foot underground tunnel linked to a 30,000-square-foot central utility plant housing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and windows that can withstand 250-mile-per-hour winds.

The generator system can also power the hospital for 96 hours on its own.

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“This replacement hospital is opening just 46 months after the tornado hit Joplin, which is approximately half the time you would normally anticipate to plan, design and construct a similarly sized hospital,” said Ryan Felton, McCarthy project director, the the statement.

“This project was meaningful on many levels. It wasn’t only about a facility, it was about people – a community suffering from loss and devastation,” said said Norman Morgan, HKS principal-in-charge. “Our job was to give them hope – give them back their hospital. This rebuilding effort became part of the healing process for the community.”

Twitter: @HenryPowderly