Demolition of St. John’s Mercy in Joplin underway JOPLIN, Mo. — In a dual demolition and groundbreaking ceremony, a wrecking ball took the first hit in bringing down Mercy’s Joplin hospital that was struck by an EF5 tornado last May. Mercy also broke ground on the new hospital that will open in early 2015. “It’s hard to say goodbye to the building that has been St. John’s since 1968,” said Gary Pulsipher, president of St. John’s Mercy. “But like the rest of the city, we are glad to be moving ahead and looking to the future. While we will never … Read more

LA JOLLA, Calif. — An enormous crane weighing nearly 320 tons with a boom able to reach farther than a football field has arrived for duty on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The crane signifies the next phase in construction of the Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute as crews begin placing the 5,900 tons of steel that will be used to form the structure of the 168-bed hospital tower. A Liebherr model LJ1300 crawler crane, which was delivered to the building site on Jan. 17 on 17 trailer trucks, was immediately assembled and began placing the first steel … Read more