Freeman Building Progress
By: Melanie Huonker
Updated: June 25, 2012
JOPLIN, MO.--- Construction on the 6th floor at Freeman West is now a week ahead of schedule. Crews began working in May and are expected to be finished in October. The expansion will add 29 private beds for "Surgical ICU" and "Transitional Care" patients. Plans to finish the 6th floor began 3 days after the May 22nd tornado. Administrators say they've seen a 20 percent increase in their daily patient care since the tornado. "Patients that have had to be diverted and maybe had to leave Joplin to find a hospital hopefully will no longer have to do that after we've opened these beds," says Daniel Caylor, Freeman Director Facilities Management. The total cost of the expansion is 8 million dollars.
