Mercy Hospital Joplin Officially Opens to Public

The new Mercy Hospital Joplin (MO, USA) replaces the former St. John's Mercy Regional Medical Center, which was destroyed on May 22, 2011, by the deadliest EF-5 tornado to hit the United States since 1947.

The new seven story, 205-private room hospital includes a full-scale emergency department (ED) with three triage rooms, 17 exam rooms, 3 trauma rooms, and 18 critical care beds; 4 high-tech surgical rooms; and 6 dedicated pediatric rooms with pull-out sleeper chairs for parents. Other departments include heart and vascular, a dedicated labor and delivery department that includes a large nursery and 10 labor and delivery suites, and a radiology wing with 14 imaging rooms with state of the art equipment. A full cafeteria, gift shop, and chapel are also part of the new hospital.


The new hospital, part of the Mercy (Chesterfield, MO, USA) network, incorporates many resiliency elements to help withstand another potential natural disaster and provide a safe environment for all patients, staff, and visitors. Critical areas of the hospital, such as the emergency department and intensive care unit, have windows rated to withstand 250 mph winds. High-impact, laminated glass was incorporated throughout the facility along with protected evacuation routes.

A central utility plant was built that is connected to the hospital by an underground tunnel, which includes all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. The utility plant was built halfway below ground to limit exposure to the elements and to protect critical hospital systems. An electrical generator system will enable the hospital to operate for 96 hours in the event of a possible power outage.

“The new Mercy Hospital Joplin exemplifies teamwork, commitment, and innovation. We are so proud to be able to deliver this world-class facility to the Joplin community. It’s more than just a hospital,” said John Farnen, executive director of strategic projects at Mercy. “Speed of delivery was of the utmost importance. It took a truly collaborative effort to design and construct this hospital so quickly. This project represents hope, and it has been an honor to be a part of it.”

“To meet the fast-track Mercy Joplin schedule, McCarthy began construction just three months after starting design. The team used lessons learned from the disaster and experience working in coastal regions to design and build a safer, more secure facility,” said Norman Morgan, AIA, HKS principal-in-charge. “For example, we designed protected evacuation routes, incorporated high impact glass and protected critical systems throughout the hospital.”

The new Mercy Hospital Joplin was built by McCarthy Building Companies (St. Louis, MO, USA), following the designs of architectural firms HKS (Dallas, TX, USA) and Archimages (Kirkwood, MO, USA), and at an investment of USD 465 million.

Related Links:
Mercy Hospital Joplin
McCarthy Building Companies
HKS