Ferrell Hospital welcoming patients back three months after flooding | News | wsiltv.com

Oct 28, 2024

Senior Reporter

Paul joined the WSIL News 3 team in May 2021.

ELDORADO, IL (WSIL) – Three months ago, Ferrell Hospital in Eldorado was forced to suspend some services after heavy rains caused flooding in parts of the building.

“We've been working for the last three months to get things cleaned up, renovated, and get ourselves back into a position to be open to take care of patients,” said Ferrell Hospital CEO Tony Keene.

Tuesday was that day as the hospital started welcoming patients back.

“When the sign outside said welcome home, it felt like a welcome home,” said Lauren Hammond, a nurse at the hospital.

For Hammond, being a nurse is something she’s wanted to do for as long as she can remember.

“I was always that person that just really wanted to take care of others and just really kind of show my heart to others and just kind of be loving and compassionate and that's where nursing came in. It was just the perfect fit for me,” Hammond explains.

Hammond was working at a LPN and was scheduled to graduate from Nursing school the day after the flood back on May 8.

“I just remember panicking thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, am I gonna have a job because I'm graduating tomorrow and my hospital is underwater? ‘“ Hammond worried.

Keen says he’s never seen that end of the hospital flood like it did back in May.

“It was just one of those one-in-a-hundred-year type situations where all the conditions were right to have an issue,” Keene explained. “And so it's not one of those things that, that you would expect or necessarily plan for.”

Services like those in the emergency department are back as well as surgeries, but Keene says there are still some repairs being made in parts of the hospital because of the flood.

“As we've opened the hospital, we’re still doing work on the clinic side of the campus,” Keene said. “We're looking to have that open hopefully in the next couple of weeks, but we felt that it was important to get the hospital back up and going so that we could provide emergency and inpatient services as quickly as possible.”

And from the time of the closing, Hammond and others have been doing what they can to help as many people as possible.

I feel like in nursing we have to be, in a way, selfless, but also really show that empathy,” Hammond said. “We’re essentially doing the best we can to take care of our patients and take care of their families”

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ELDORADO, Ill. -- The family branch of the Ferrell Hospital has announced its reopening following the main location's return on August 5.

Senior Reporter

Paul joined the WSIL News 3 team in May 2021.