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Ambulances transfer 79 patients to new Mo. hospital

The new Joplin Mercy Hospital replaces St. John’s Regional Medical Center, the hospital destroyed by an EF-5 tornado in May 2011

By Wally Kennedy
The Joplin Globe

JOPLIN, Mo. — The ambulance drivers gathered at the break of dawn Sunday on a parking lot north of Mercy’s temporary hospital to get their final briefing.

A few minutes before 7 a.m., they got into their ambulances and began the transfer of 79 patients from Mercy’s temporary hospital at 28th Street and St. John’s Boulevard to the new Mercy Hospital Joplin at 50th Street and Hearnes Boulevard. The ride took about 10 minutes.

Seventeen patients in the critical care unit were moved first. By 10 a.m., 44 patients had been moved. All were moved without incident by 11 a.m., a hospital official said. At that time, the temporary hospital and its emergency room were shut down.

Among those transferred to the new hospital were three women who were expecting. Dr. Jeff Manley, an obstetrician, rode in an ambulance with a woman who was expecting the arrival of twins at any moment. The twins, a boy and a girl, were delivered at 8:09 a.m. Sunday in the new hospital. To mark the occasion, staff members put together a gift bag for the family.

Also among the patients transferred was Sandra Waggoner, of Joplin. She might be the only person in Joplin to be among the last patients at St. John’s Regional Medical Center and among the first at Mercy Hospital Joplin. She had surgery for kidney stones at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 22, 2011, a couple of hours before St. John’s took a direct hit from an EF-5 tornado. She was in recovery on the medical center’s second floor when the storm hit.

“I remember seeing the curtains flat against the ceiling, and two female nurses and a male nurse laying on top of me,’' she said. “We all started praying until the wind stopped.’'

Waggoner was placed in a wheelchair. Her son-in-law, a first responder, pushed her down Maiden Lane from the hospital to her home at 19th Street and Jackson Avenue. She would not know until three days later that her physician had survived the storm.

As for the transfer on Sunday, she said, “It was OK. They were just wonderful to me.’'

Mercy Hospital Joplin opened at 6 a.m. Sunday. The first emergency room patient reported shortness of breath. Others were treated for abdominal pain and fevers. The department had seen 10 patients by 9 a.m. Dr. Sean Smith, Mercy’s emergency medical director, said it was typical morning for Mercy’s ER.

Said Smith: “We opened the ER with a moment of prayer and huddled like a football team with our hands joined together. After that, I said: ‘Let’s rock ‘n’ roll. Let’s get to it.’ We had our first patient at 6:04 a.m.’'

Manley and Smith, and other hospital officials, spoke at a news conference after the opening. They were asked how they felt about being on duty for the first day.

“It’s hard to put into words,’' Manley said.

Smith said, “I have been accused of having a grin on my face that will not come off.’'

But Smith noted that leaving the temporary hospital for the new one was a bittersweet moment.

“The temporary hospital served us well. In some ways, its design was better than the old hospital (St. John’s Regional Medical Center),’' he said.

The new hospital, he said, has been designed to maximize efficiency in the treatment of ER patients. The hospital’s 34 treatment rooms are located near all of the diagnostic services that an ER patient might require.

About the night before the opening, Gary Pulsipher, president of the hospital, said, “It was one of those nights when you don’t get a lot of sleep. I’m glad we had two mock moves to work out the logistics.’'

The clinic at the new hospital, which operates in the west tower, opened last Monday with the transfer of the cardiology department. Forty other providers will move into the clinic on March 30, according to Rodney Haynes, chief operating officer of Mercy Clinics.

Cardiovascular Services Director Nora Cannon, a St. John’s/Mercy employee since 1989, said, “I got teary when I came in this morning. It’s been a long journey. It’s like we have come full circle.’'

©2015 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.)