GREENFIELD, Iowa — Greenfield’s Adair County Memorial Hospital has officially reopened, although only partially. It’s been closed for months due to tornado damage.
It's one step closer to normalcy for Greenfield. Before this week, staff were using a local elementary school to see patients.
“Our windows were totally broken, most everything was damaged throughout the hospital just because of the total wind and debris that flew in," Adair County Memorial Hospital C.E.O. Catherine Hillestad said.
The scene she saw while driving back into Greenfield right after the tornado was shocking.
“That’s really the first emotion that I felt was ‘Oh my gosh this is actually real this is what happened’ and from there, your instinct just kicks in and you just do what you need to do, you help where you need to help…,” Hillestad said.
Hospital staff needed a new location, so they turned to Nodaway Valley Elementary School.
“The desks were still in there so we would move them to the side and utilize the space for beds…,” she remembered.
Hillestad said they were limited in what they could do, but they made do.
“As far as the services that we couldn’t have operating at the school - we either didn’t operate them or we utilized different services or hospitals in the surrounding area," she said.
While moving back into their original location is a step in the right direction, there’s still work left to be done.
“Essentially the same services that were being offered at the school are being offered here so it’s not really a huge change. It’s just more of a change of the location," Hillestad said.
Still, the EMS team is up and running and continues to transport patients to the nearest available emergency room, with the closest being in Madison County. But more complex services like its own emergency and operating rooms aren't quite up and running.
"Our in-patient floor is also one of those that was extensively damaged so we don't have the capability to house patients in the hospital," Hillestad said.
The hospital's leaning on other medical providers to fill the gap.
“I haven’t seen a community as strong as this one. Everybody has banded together to help each other and I think that’s really what’s getting us through this,” Hillestad said.
The hospital hopes to be fully operational by early October.
"We're hoping to start up [physical therapy] services as soon as possible. We are looking to locate those at our local fitness center here," Hillestad said.