JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - The owners of the Joplin hospital destroyed in Sunday's tornado say they will have a temporary 60-bed hospital set up in a nearby parking lot soon.
Lynn Britton, chief executive of St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy Health System, says a replacement for St. John's Regional Medical Center will be running by Sunday.
Hospital officials gave a tour on Thursday to about 50 high-level federal officials from Washington. The group huddled in the wreckage of the lobby as emergency room technician Lindsay Dueker (DIE'-kuhr) described that night.
Dueker said the tornado hit the building and seemed to stay atop it for five to eight minutes. "You could taste dirt," she said.