Tornado Damages, Closes Missouri Hospital

The traditional role of healthcare facilities in the aftermath of an emergency is to assess the damage and treat the wounds. In the case of one Missouri hospital struck by a tornado, the facility became the patient.

The initial damage assessment of SoutheastHEALTH of Stoddard County in Dexter, Missouri, is complete after a presumed tornado hit the facility recently, according to the Southeast Missourian. While the facility experienced some damage, the effects of the tornado could have been far worse, and the infrastructure of the facility is sound, said Shauna Hoffman, the hospital’s vice president of marketing and business development.

The initial damage assessment found damage to power and gas lines, broken windows and glass doors, doors jared from their rails with glass blown out, moderate roof damage and structure damage to the outer wall in the back of the building.

When power and utilities are restored, further assessments will be done to see whether there are more issues within the facility needing to be addressed and to determine the extent of the damages to other departments in the hospital. The hospital will remain closed until the structural assessment is complete and operations are restored.