—
Gov. Jay Nixon was among the first on Tuesday morning to get a look at the new sixth floor at Freeman Hospital West, built in response to the increased health care needs of the region after the 2011 tornado.
It is an $8 million space in the Gary and Donna Hall Tower that will house the intensive care unit and the transitional care unit. It will begin accepting patients later this month.
The floor will employ 90 additional nursing staff members, and numerous support personnel in housekeeping and nutrition. Nixon called the hospital’s recent expansions “a significant driver of the economy in Southwest Missouri.”
“This is a place that serves the Four-State region, and many of the patients that are served here come from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, because they know they can get the quality of care and the specialty care they need,” he said.
Plans for expanding the intensive care unit had been considered before the May 22, 2011, tornado, but they were accelerated three days after the twister wrecked St. John’s Regional Medical Center.
Paula Baker, Freeman Health System president and chief executive officer, who conducted the tour for Nixon, said the sixth-floor project was completed in a record-breaking 165 days.
Composed of 24,000 square feet, it includes a 13-bed surgical intensive care unit and a 16-bed transitional care unit for patients who are not sick enough to stay in intensive care but are too sick to return to a regular medical floor.
The floor is equipped with the latest technology the medical field has to offer, Baker said. Staff members demonstrated during the tour a new touch screen call system for nurses in each patient room, and a negative pressure room designed for infection control. Each patient room is equipped with a sleeping area for guests, and with mobile patient monitors that can accompany them to testing in other areas.
April Bennett, director of the cardiac medical unit, transitional care unit and surgical intensive care unit, said the amenities will not only make patients more comfortable, but also will mean faster diagnosis and treatment.
Nixon praised the hospital for its leadership, investment and vision during a time in which it was simultaneously responding to increased health care needs and dealing with the loss of several Freeman satellite operations.
“There’s no facility anywhere in America that has any more amenities, no place that is going to be safer, no place with less potential for infection,” Nixon said. “And when you see state of the art as good as anywhere in the world right here in Joplin, Mo., it continues to add to that strength of Freeman.”
Earlier Tuesday morning, Nixon was on hand for a groundbreaking for a new pet food manufacturing and distribution center that is expected to create up to 150 jobs.
“You feel like we’re turning that corner,” he said of Joplin’s progress.
Another session
AN INVITATION-ONLY EVENT was held Tuesday afternoon to introduce people to Freeman Health System’s latest construction effort.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Gov. Nixon among first to tour new Freeman floor
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
-
-
Community gearing up for two-year anniversary ceremony this afternoon
With the playground full of children, it could be any other day at Joplin’s Cunningham Park, but the white tents popping up and neat rows of white chairs lined up nearby indicate something more is happening today.
-
SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
-
Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that the company will team up with Rebuild Joplin for an initiative to help the community complete its recovery efforts. The company already has placed one of its executives in Joplin, and it is pledging additional funds and volunteer hours by company workers to go toward the city’s recovery.
-
Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
-
Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
-
Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
-
FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
-
Therapy dogs
Any question that Louie was bred to put people as ease is put to rest when the golden retriever trots over to where a visitor sits and puts his head on their knee, the dog’s eyes filled with a gentle affection.
-
Nova Kluseman and Jeanne Morrow
Nova Kluseman has staked her claim on Wednesdays at the Mercy medical office clinics where she volunteers. The staff at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri will know it’s Thursday when they see Jeanne Morrow walk through the door.
-
Greentree Community Church
Every two months, Joplin plays host to some now-familiar faces. They’re members of Greentree Community Church in St. Louis, and they have “adopted” the city as one of their mission projects since the tornado.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
-
