Video: New Temporary Hospital Opens in Winston County

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LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s been nearly a year since a series of tornadoes devastated the Winston County community. The Winston Medical Center was severely damaged in the storm but today an open house was held for a new temporary facility.

Just one month shy of the 1st anniversary of the deadly tornadoes, Winston County residents can now receive the same health care they received before the storm destroyed the Winston Medical Center. A new temporary facility will begin serving the public next week.

“Johnson Portables is a wonderful company that we engaged, looked through many designs and to think what has happened over the last weeks or the last couple of months to put this together, it’s truly remarkable,” says Louisville Mayor Will Hill.

Hospital officials estimate that construction for the permanent Winston Medical Center will begin in August. In the meantime, the temporary facility will provide more privacy and convenience for patients who were being serviced in medical tents.

“What we’ve got now is 10 private rooms with bathrooms. One of the biggest things is, for this particular facility, is that we’ve been able to bring back our Turning Point Services, our General Psych Services. We haven’t been able to provide that until we opened this particular facility back up,” says Winston Medical Center CEO Paul Black.

Black says the nursing home facility should also be completed next year. The full-service medical center is another huge step in rebuilding the Winston County community.

“It’s so good to be able to receive treatment here in our community that we don’t have to drive for anymore.
This going to serve us well unto a new permanent hospital is in place,” says Mike Dowd, Executive Director for Winston Strong, a volunteer organization dedicated to rebuilding Winston County.

The entire Winston Medical Center complex should be completed in 2017.