T+2: Where We Stand Two Years After Destructive Tornado
Posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2026
Proud of New ER: Outside the temporary ER on April 16, 2025, are
(back) John Galano, MLS, laboratory director and Cierra
Lee, RN. (front) Gay Galano, MT, laboratory technologist;
Vanessa Aldaba, LPN; Chela Santibanez, RN, ER Nurse
Manager; Kari Cochran, PA-C, physician assistant;
and David Manning, RN.
(See below for another photo)
Two years following a devastating tornado, a replacement hospital is edging closer to reality and all pre-tornado outpatient care is now fully operational at Mercy Health Love County in Marietta.
Hospital Board of Control chairman Richard Barker praised work that has been done repairing buildings and rejuvenating damaged services.
“We are moving closer and closer to reaching closure with FEMA, thanks to our Oklahoma Congressional delegation. I am proud of our hospital administrator Scott Callender and his team for all they have done the past two years. They have been redirected many times in their interactions, given the turnover in FEMA representatives and the loss of funding that agency has experienced.”
Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole is chair of the House Appropriations Committee and his office stepped in recently to assist the hospital and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as they complete their engagement.
Still to be decided by FEMA assessors is whether to pay for repairs to the damaged hospital or to authorize a completely new facility on the same site. “Our goal is to have private beds and 25 of them as before, but the dollars allotted by FEMA will determine all of that,” Barker said. “We owe it to the community to do all in our power to get our hospital back as soon as possible, considering their local tax investment in us.”
The Devenney Group of Dallas, architect, and Layton Construction of Dallas, were hired for the project. “The day we get a ‘go’ from FEMA, they are beginning,” said Callender.
The two organizations often team up on building Oklahoma hospitals, said administrative assistant Jessica Crosthwait. “They impressed us as being hungry for the work and eager to help. Many of their staff had small town backgrounds. They wanted this job and made us believe they could build us back stronger.”
On the second anniversary of the F4 tornado that ripped through Marietta’s west side on April 27, 2024, all previous medical and social services of the hospital have been restored, except inpatient care.
Repairs were made to numerous buildings, others were repurposed, some were torn down as damaged beyond repair, and a 2,500 square foot Emergency Room is brand new.
The latest campus site to take on new life is the Social Services building on Wanda Street, where final touches were being made last week to the exterior façade. Callender announced an invitation has been extended to Lighthouse Behavioral Health of Ardmore and the Department of Human Services of Ardmore to return to Marietta part- or full-time to serve local residents in the rent-free office space.
Here are other key services and their date of restoration:
February 2026 – Outpatient radiology reopens with brand new x-ray equipment in a new suite of the Therapy Building. A full-time ultrasound sonographer is added to the staff in March. The radiology department phone number is (580) 300-3250.
January 2026 – Medics move into EMS Station 1, formerly the Growers Market. A building renovation provides nine sleeping rooms, kitchen, restrooms and showers, and living room. Ambulances have indoor parking.
September 2025 – A 2,500 square foot temporary Emergency Room opens with three treatment rooms, a trauma bay, new breathing and diagnostic equipment, and 24-hour service. A new helipad is put in place. A 128-slice CT scanner and laboratory, respiratory, and radiology services also are part of the ER. Dr. Jordan Paslay is named ER director. The phone number is (580) 276-2400.
July 2025 – The hospital Food Pantry reopens in a former car dealership at 1100 Memorial Dr. In the renovated space, owned by the hospital, pantry volunteers distribute food packages on Tuesdays. In February, Southern Oklahoma Memorial Foundation provides a $50,000 walk-in cooler-freezer.
October 2024 – Hospital Maintenance building reopens after repairs.
September 2024 – Former pantry building and former EMS station 1 are demolished.
July 2024 – Therapy Building resumes physical and speech therapy. The phone number is (580) 276-3347. Former Adult Day Center on Wanda Street is converted to hospital administrative offices. The phone number is (580) 276-3347.
June 2024 -- Clinic building reopens after repairs. Patients can now resume seeing their physicians in person. But clinic services had never ceased. Within three days of the tornado, telephone service was restored and clinicians were in contact with patients by phone or virtual visits. The phone number is (580) 276-2400.
In anticipation of renewed hospital services, administrators have been touring other institutions for ideas on the layout of departments. “Front line staff in the departments will have a voice in that,” Callender said.
A total of 133 coworkers are currently employed. As services came back, former employees have returned.
Kari Cochran, PA-C, physician assistant, treated the first patient in the new Emergency Room. She said she had worked elsewhere for 21 months while waiting to resume her job in Marietta, where she was hired in 2008. David Manning, RN, an emergency room nurse since 2010, was gone for 18 months.
Both said they are glad to be back in Marietta but yearn for the resumption of a local hospital for ER patients needing follow-up care.
Chela Santibanez (l) ER Nurse Manager, and Dave Manning (r) R.N.,
are joined in this picture by Clinic Medical Director Dr.
Jordan Paslay, Respiratory Supervisor Beatriz Scott,
and Director of Imaging Services Blake Scott. The scene
is outside the new ER on April 16, 2026.