FEMA grant to strengthen hurricane-damaged hospital

A $17 million grant will let Singing River Health System renovate the south tower of Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, Miss., fortifying it against hurricanes.

Improvements paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency will include windows able to withstand 150-mph winds. Existing windows are rated up to 90 mph, according to an article of the SF Gate website.

FEMA will be asked to approve the plan after 4 to 6 months of engineering work, the article said. Construction is expected to start in early 2015 and take about two years.

The first three floors of the same building's east wing were gutted and are undergoing a $6 million renovation paid for with bonds issued two years ago. The fourth floor was remodeled several years ago, the article said.

Combined with other projects, it's about a $30 million overhaul, according to CEO Chris Anderson.

The redesigned floors will have 15 rooms or 16 rooms each. Cancer patients will stay on the first floor, general medical and surgical patients on the second and pediatric and obstetric and gynecological patients on the third.

Read the article.