FEMA-Owned Hospital Opens in Tornado-Ravaged Mississippi City

The National Mobile Disaster Hospital has opened in a Mississippi city where the local hospital was heavily damaged by an April 28 tornado.

It opened Monday in Louisville, and will be used until Winston Medical Center is rebuilt.

Local physicians, nurses and support employees will work in the facility owned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

It includes a five-bed emergency department and 10-bed acute care module. It also has an X-ray unit, inpatient pharmacy, clinical lab and medical supply and logistical support units.

Officials say this is the first time the entire mobile hospital has been used at once for an extended period. It’s usually stored in North Carolina.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and FEMA director Craig Fugate say opening the facility is important to Louisville’s recovery.