Mercy Hospital Joplin opens permanent facility

Mercy administrators and employees gathered with city officials and community members on April 11 to celebrate the grand opening of Mercy Hospital Joplin's first permanent site since the 2011 tornado.

The component facility - which was built using more than 220 custom units transported from a California manufacturer and assembled and finished in Joplin in less than nine months - will begin admitting patients on April 15.

The hospital is located next to the Mercy campus on South Picher Avenue. It is a 150,000-square-foot facility that includes 55 private patient rooms; an emergency department with 17 exam rooms, three triage rooms and three trauma rooms; and an intensive care unit with 18 beds and two isolation rooms.

"Our commitment was way deeper than our facilities," said Mike McCurry, Mercy chief operating officer. "The building is almost inconsequential. Our commitment is to the community. We exist to serve the communities we're in and for no other reason."

The building, which took more than eight months to complete, will be utilized for other hospital functions when the full hospital on 100 acres at the intersection of Interstate 44 and Main Street is finished in approximately 2015.[[In-content Ad]]