This huge three-story brick and concrete building employing 712 personel, had most windows blown in, some of the brick facing torn off, and the roof lifted momentarily. The winds ripping through the interior tore out most interior walls, breaking the gas, oxygen, water and electric lines that are a fixture in virtually every hospital room anywhere. The ruptured water lines spewed water throughout the building. Fifty-three patients (no injuries reported) were moved to other hospitals, many far-removed from Americus.
Initially, there was no capability to handle any type of sickness or injury locally. Several doctor's offices had been clustered around the hospital, as is usual around any hospital, and many of them were destroyed or damaged to the point that they were not usable. Some doctors left town. Even though some services have been restored in temporary locations around town that were spared by the tornado, there are no inpatient, surgical services or labor-and-delivery services available. 
After "prolonged negotiations" with their insurance carrier, the hospital was declared a total loss, and demolition has begun. A replacement hospital will not be completed until 2010. In the meantime, many functions will become available next spring when some temporary modular (warehouse-type) buildings from FEMA will be completed.With a new hospital estimated to cost 125 million, the town and region embarked on a multitude of programs to raise money. One of the most innovative: This week, the winner of a raffle will win the right to swing the demolition ball at the first wall to be leveled.
