GREENFIELD, Iowa (WHO) — When a tornado struck the Adair County Health Systems Hospital on May 21st, employees kept working to take care of patients and those injured in the storm. Nine of those hospital employees would later learn their own homes were destroyed.
The hospital building itself is still standing. However it received major damage to the roof and internal areas.
“We still have a standing structure here. Unfortunately, our roof was damaged extensively and there are extreme amounts of internal damage as well,” said Catherine Hillestad, the Adair County Health Systems CEO, “Unfortunately due to that reason we are closed, the hospital itself for 90 days.”
The organization is still providing services with a walk-in clinic and primary care providers in the Greenfield Elementary School. Some services are available in nearby towns.
The hospital employs around 110 people in the Greenfield area.
“Our employees are extremely strong, and resilient,” said Hillestad, “We had a lot of employees here that day who when the tornado occurred, they were at our triage station, saving lives of the patients without knowing the damage that occurred upon their own homes, so they’re really the heroes of that day.”
For those nine hospital employees who lost their homes, the Adair County Health Systems Foundation is raising money to help them get back on their feet. They are accepting donations toward that effort.
For the leader of this organization there is no real preparation for what the community has just experienced.
“You can do as many incident command exercises as you want, but it’s been an experience for sure,” said Hillestad, “I think one of the biggest things that I’ve taken away is the sense of community that has come to our aid over the course of the last few weeks. I’ve seen countless surrounding area hospitals help us out with various items we’ve had extreme amounts of support from Mercy One.”
Now the hospital is working toward getting their building open again within 90 days.
“Our lab was entirely destroyed from the winds and debris that flew through the windows, so I will have to look at redoing the entire laboratory itself,” said Hillestad. “There are various areas with a lot of water damage. We have to tear up the carpet, we have to redo drywall. just a lot of things that are you going into it that people might not be able to see from the outside.”