The new Mercy Hospital Joplin in Missouri was designed to withstand winds of up to 250 mph.
The $465 million structure replaces St. John's Regional Medical Center that was destroyed in a 2011 tornado that devastated the city. The new 900,000 sf facility is scheduled to open 46 months after the storm struck.
The new hospital features a window and frame system that can protect patients from winds of up to 250 mph. The structure was built with a concrete roof and a precast concrete outer shell.
Engineers and architects with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and HKS Architects studied the storm’s aftermath and applied lessons drawn from that analysis in the new building.
Other buildings own by Mercy have also been shored up to withstand high winds. Strengthened windows have been added to other Mercy buildings including an orthopedic hospital in Springfield, Missouri, and a rehabilitation hospital in Oklahoma City.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 5, 2021
Animal health, a huge market getting bigger, is fertile territory for engineering firm CRB
Regulatory compliance is seminal to any project’s design.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 4, 2021
When the hospital becomes home
Patients and their loved ones need a variety of meaningful spaces outside the patient room to enhance feelings of optimism and control.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 3, 2021
New 9-story outpatient facility planned on Washington University Medical Campus
Lawrence Group and Perkins Eastman are designing the project.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 27, 2021
Texas Oncology continues to expand its reach
It is replacing and consolidating a number of its cancer care centers.
Contractors | Jul 23, 2021
The aggressive growth of Salas O'Brien, with CEO Darin Anderson
Engineering firm Salas O'Brien has made multiple acquisitions over the past two years to achieve its Be Local Everywhere business model. In this exclusive interview for HorizonTV, BD+C's John Caulfield sits down with the firm's Chairman and CEO, Darin Anderson, to discuss its business model.
Daylighting Designs | Jul 9, 2021
New daylighting diffusers come in three shape options
Solatube introduces its newest technology innovation to its commercial product line, the OptiView Shaping Diffusers.
University Buildings | Jul 1, 2021
Texas A&M University’s new Engineering Medicine program receives a new, unique space
EYP designed the project.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 29, 2021
New Flagler Health+ Campus breaks ground in Durbin Park
Gresham Smith designed the project.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 25, 2021
Hospital serving New Hampshire’s largest metro is expanding its ED
A pandemic delay led the design-build team to rethink the addition’s reception, waiting, and triage areas.
![Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]](/sites/default/files/styles/list_big/public/Oceanographer%20John%20Englander%20Talks%20Resiliency%20and%20Buildings%20YT%20new_0.jpg?itok=enJ1TWJ8 "Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]")
Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021
Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]
New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.
