MARIETTA, Okla. (KXII) – Hospital Administrator Scott Callender says they’ve been working closely with FEMA on insurance claims to get Mercy Health Love County back up and running since last April’s EF-4 tornado left trails of destruction along I-35 and badly damaged the county’s only hospital, forcing patients and staff to relocate.
“It’s been a challenge, I would say,” Callender said. “We opened our outpatient physical therapy on June 11th and we opened our clinic on July 1st,” he added.
Just nine months after the tornado, Mercy Health Love County is ready to begin construction on a temporary emergency room.
“It will be no different than any other ER, it’ll be more of a temporary building and have the same equipment and staff that we would normally have,” Callender stated.
He says the temporary emergency room is expected to open mid-to-late April and will be able to provide the community with emergency care.
“If they need an X-ray or a CT to determine their care, we can take care of that here,” Callender said.
He says Mercy is currently exploring two options with FEMA to either repair the existing hospital or rebuild a new facility.
“We’re in the final stages of that, to determine if is gonna be repair or rebuild, which we are hoping for a rebuild of a new hospital,” Callender said.
Callender says construction of the new E-R will take two to three months to complete.
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