Mercy Health Love County

Emergency Room Ambulance Hospital Clinic

Press Releases

Food Pantry Re-Opening Delayed to July 15

Posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025

The re-opening of the Mercy Health Love County Hospital Food Pantry has been delayed one week, until July 15.

The pantry operation has been in transit for several weeks from the former Greenville School cafeteria back to hospital grounds.

Jesica Crosthwait, executive assistant to the hospital administrator, said Wednesday that the First Baptist Church is distributing canned and other nonperishable food items to affected families weekdays from July 8 until July 15. The church office number is (580) 276-2125.

The pantry was to re-open July 8 as a drive-through service of the hospital at the former Ford building at 1300 Memorial Dr., across the street from McDonald's Restaurant.

But Love County EMS has yet to fully vacate the Ford building, which has been its temporary home after both the pantry and ambulance station were destroyed in the tornado that struck Marietta on April 27, 2025.

"The building the EMS is moving into is not quite ready. A few more days are needed," said Jessica Crosthwait, Executive Assistant to the Hospital Administrator Wednesday.

Food Pantry Moving Back to Hospital Grounds July 8

Posted on Friday, June 20th, 2025

Food Pantry Moving Back to Hospital Grounds July 8

Clients of the Mercy Health Love County food pantry received extra food boxes Tuesday to help tide them over until the pantry reopens in a new location on July 8.

Jessica Crosthwait, executive assistant to the director of the hospital, announced that the food pantry will be closed on June 24 and July 1 to vacate the former Greenville School site and return to hospital grounds.

“We are moving back to Marietta. We will be in the former Ford dealership at 1300 Memorial Drive, across from McDonald's Restaurant, where we are setting up a drive-through pantry,” Crosthwait said.

The original pantry building of the hospital was destroyed by a tornado that struck Marietta on April 27, 2024. Love County Commissioners offered the Greenville School cafeteria as a temporary location. The school had permanently closed that year. It is being converted to a community center.

The Ford building, owned by the hospital, has been temporarily occupied the past 14 months by the Love County EMS/Fire Brigade Station 1, which also lost its headquarters in the tornado.

Workers have been busy converting the former Growers Market on Legacy Park Lane to a new home for Station 1 medics and ambulances.

The food pantry has been serving clients with quantities of fresh, canned, and frozen food items since 2000.

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the relocation but look forward to helping clients again,"...

Hospital Progress One Year After April 2024 Tornado

Posted on Friday, April 25th, 2025

Many Buildings Repaired; 24-hour Care on the
Cusp of Resuming at Tornado-Wracked Hospital

Temporary Emergency Room Links Up to Clinic: A covered walkway connects the clinic parking lot with a newly-constructed emergency room, which opens soon at Mercy Health Love County. Medical care will be available for walk-in patients and ambulance patients 24 hours a day.

Inside the Temporary ER: Construction workers on April 24, 2025, put together three
treatment bays and a trauma room in a temporary emergency room on the hospital’s
east side. A brand new laboratory inside also will begin serving patients and the public.

Like a patient in long-term care, key buildings on the Mercy Health Love County Hospital campus have undergone rehabilitation since being struck by a powerful F4 tornado on April 27, 2024.

Tornado damage and water damage have been remedied at the Clinic Building, the Therapy Building (now the home of physical and speech therapy and radiology services), the former Growers Market (now the home of EMS Station 1), the former Adult Day Center (now the hospital business office), and the Maintenance Building. Remediation continues at the Social Services Building.

The heavily-damaged hospital building itself, at 300 Wanda Street, sits vacant and unusable. But plans continue being developed for a restored or new hospital on the same site.

The big news is that the return of 24-hour medical care is right around the corner. A temporary emergency room has...