JOPLIN, Mo. (KFSM) - Nearly four years after an EF-5 tornado ripped through Joplin and destroyed St. John's Regional Medical Center, one of the main hospitals in the city, Mercy will be opening a newly built hospital Saturday (March 7).
Mercy officials said the hospital, located on 100 Mercy Way, will have its grand opening Saturday morning where people can tour the facility. They said the hospital will start accepting patients on March 22.
"It's just very encouraging to see this new facility that came from the disaster," Mercy RVT Kevin Tucker said.
Tucker and his wife Mindi were in Joplin visiting their in-laws when the tornado hit on May 22, 2011. Mindi said she went down to the basement of her parents' home, and came back up to see the house had been leveled. She said she could see the hospital from their house.
"It was unbelievable, we couldn't believe that the building was gone in some places, that had been a second home to me for years," Mindi said.
Tucker said he was at the movies when the tornado struck. He said he called his wife to make sure his family was okay, and on the way back to the house, stopped to help people stuck in the rubble.
"Literally every house, every other house, somebody was screaming, hollering from wherever and hollering for help," Tucker said.
The Tuckers' said they called their colleagues in Northwest Arkansas to tell them about the devastation. Mercy RVT Grant Jones and Dr. Roberto Saez packed their bags and drove to Joplin, arriving around 11 p.m.
"Everything was dark, it was pretty surreal because of that, and then you could smell the gas in the air, which was pretty unnerving," Saez said.
Saez said he and Jones drove straight to Freeman hospital, where people were flocking for medical care.
"They directed us straight to the E.R. and just started working, everything was chaotic and you go around and there's several people in each room, people on the floor, people in beds," Jones said.
Mindi said once she knew her family was safe, she and her husband joined Saez and Jones at the hospital.
"I was treating people in sweats and a sweatshirt because that is what I had. I didn't have a badge. I lost it in the tornado. I lost my nursing license. They just trusted that the doctor I was with said that I was his nurse," Mindi said.
Jones said they worked through the night, treating patient after patient. He said there was a line out the door the entire time.
"The greatest thing about it was, it wasn't 'where's your insurance card?' and 'what religion do you want?' and all this other stuff, it was just how can we help you," Jones said.
Now that the new facility is opening, the four Mercy professionals said it's bittersweet.
"It's going to be great for the community, I just didn't want it to happen like it did, not having the tornado. If we would have been there without the tornado it would have been much better," Mindi said.
Mercy officials said the new facility is the first hospital ever built with windows that can withstand 250 mph winds. They said throughout the re-building time, Mercy kept all 2,200 workers on the payroll.