Joplin, Missouri: Hospital Deemed Unsafe After Tornado, All Patients Evacuated [View All]

A destroyed helicopter lies on its side in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/23/national/main20065340.shtml#ixzz1NDBsErVH

St. John's Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, suffered such severe damage from Sunday's tornado that all patients had to be evacuated and sent to other hospitals in the region.

Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said officials decided the hospital was unsafe after it took a direct hit from the tornado. They are still trying to determine how many patients were affected and where they were sent. Many of them, she said, were taken to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Mo., about 75 miles away. Both hospitals are part of a multi-state health system.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/joplin-mo-hospital-evacuated-sustaining-extensive-tornado-damage/story?id=13666314

Windows were blown out, gurneys tossed up to five blocks away and 183 patients and about 200 staffers were evacuated. X-rays from St. John's reportedly were found in driveways in Dade County, Missouri, about 70 miles away.

The building in southwest Joplin stood empty Monday morning, looking like it had been bombed. Mangled cars had been tossed about the parking lot and strewn in front of the emergency room entrance. The hospital's medical helicopter lay some distance away from its landing pad, heavily damaged.

A statue of a cross out front appeared to be the only thing left undamaged. However, the hospital was very nearly the only building left standing, as the nearby area was flattened by the twister.

http://www.kctv5.com/news/27992427/detail.html

JOPLIN, Mo. - Rod Pace, Med Flight manager at St. John's Regional Medical Center, watched the tornado form to the southwest like so many before.

He was on the second floor of St. John's on Sunday evening to finish payroll before an expected frantic Monday. He'd wrapped up his work, but decided to stay an extra 15 to 20 minutes to let the weather pass.

Pace saw the swirling rain start to form about a mile off. The flags outside suddenly stopped blowing to the northeast, only to be pulled back to the west.

That was about the time the glass doors he was holding onto — the ones with the 100-pound magnet to keep them locked — were pulled open with Pace still holding on to the handles. He was sucked outside briefly and then pushed back in like a rag doll, all the while holding on to the handles.



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/23/national/main20065340.shtml#ixzz1NDC2RfFM