Hospital Projects Move Closer To Completion
Posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2025
Live-In Help: Dustin Michael, Manager of Love County EMS/Fire Brigade, stands in the “living room” of Station 1 on Legacy Park Lane on July 15, prior to the arrival of furnishings. Medics of the 24-hour ambulance crews are ready to move into the new station, with ambulances to be parked in a covered garage beyond the Exit door in the photo above.
Four projects at Mercy Health Love County Hospital were closer to being finished on July 15.
Ambulance Station 1: The former Farmers Market on Legacy Park Lane has been remodeled to create sleeping quarters, kitchen and dining room, living room, offices, and storage closets. Occupants of the space will be the medics and ambulances of the former Station 1 north of the hospital, which was destroyed by a tornado on April 27, 2024.
Temporary Emergency Room: The elusive Automatic Generator Transfer Switch, on back order for weeks, finally arrived July 14 and was installed the next day by Lynn Boyer Electric’s Casey Key and crew members J.D. Hartman, Matt Wyatt, and Dale Gunter. The ER could not open until a back-up generator could be made functional.
Radiation Department: Painters and electricians were working July 15 in the suite of x-ray rooms that was constructed in a repurposed Community Room of the Therapy Building. New x-ray equipment is on hand to be installed.
Hospital Food Pantry: The permanent home for the pantry was close to ready on July 15 in the former Ford building at 1100 Memorial Drive, across from McDonald’s restaurant.
Lead volunteer Lula Finch said the pantry has the food resources to open on July 22. She pointed out two overhead doors on the east and west sides of the building that will open to allow clients to drive through to receive food packages.
Volunteers Jim Ahern, Diana Morrison, Joanne Coble, Jim Coble, Debra Gaines, Cathy Redding, Rosann Kelly, Jed Brown, and Naomi Lornes were busy setting up bins, shelves, and refrigeration units.
The original food pantry building, opened in 2001 on the east side of the hospital, was destroyed in last spring’s tornado.
More About Drive Through Pantry
"When the drive-through pantry opens, visitors are asked to be diligent in observing signs and cones as well as the volunteers on foot as there will be a new flow to pick up food," said Jessica Crosthwait, Administrative Assistant to the Hospital Administrator. "Please stay in your vehicle and if you have an animal in the car, please hold the animal and then open the truck for food placement. We need to protect our volunteers."