JOPLIN, Mo. —
St. John’s Regional Medical Center is preparing to move into yet another temporary hospital at the site of its existing mobile medical unit, beginning this weekend.
While that is happening, Freeman Health System will be going before the Joplin Industrial Development Authority on Friday, July 29, to seek the issuance of bonds to finance the development of two floors that are not now in use at Freeman Hospital West.
The new temporary hospital for St. John’s will be supplied by Johnson Portables, Bay City, Mich., which got its start with portable buildings in 2005 in connection with Hurricane Katrina. A $4.7 million contract has been signed.
The portable hospital, which is three times larger than the existing temporary unit, will be operated by St. John’s until it brings in a component hospital. St. John’s will use the component hospital while a permanent structure is being constructed.
Miranda Lewis, spokeswoman for St. John’s, said, “With the component hospital still several months out, it was decided we needed to get into a hard-sided situation before cold weather moves in.
“This portable hospital will come in phases over the next several weeks. We should be out of the tent by the end of August.’’
The tent, which has 9,000 square feet, is on loan from the Taney County Ambulance District. It is available for use in emergencies statewide at the request of the governor, according to Kevin Tweedy, deputy director of operations for the ambulance district.
Brian Johnson, with Johnson Portables, said, “We will replace the MMU (mobile medical unit) exactly where it is located, but they will have much more space than what they have got there now. It will be (almost) 30,000 square feet. It will cover the entire parking lot area.
“We are phasing in the assembly of the building over the next six weeks or so. We’ll start this Saturday.’’
The modular construction that Johnson Portables uses is 80 to 90 percent reusable in other applications, Johnson said.
The 29,000-square-foot hospital will be used for nine to 12 months while a prefabricated component hospital is brought to the site. The hospital will have an intensive care unit and offer surgical, X-ray, pharmacy, catheter lab and dialysis services, among other things.
The board of the Joplin Industrial Development Authority will meet at 7:30 a.m. Friday, July 29, to consider a request from Freeman for a proposed issuance by the authority of revenue bonds.
Christen Stark, spokeswoman for Freeman, said Freeman has plans to sell bonds in order to finish out additional rooms on two floors at Freeman Hospital West. She said the additional rooms are needed in response to the anticipated increase in patients as a result of the May 22 tornado.
Tower
Rob O’Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the Joplin Industrial Development Authority, said Freeman Health System is accelerating the development of the top two floors of the Donna and Gary Hall Tower.
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St. John’s setting up another temporary hospital at old site
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