Damaged hospital comes down to make way for a new facility

Excavators started tearing down a hospital last week that a tornado severely damaged last March.

Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, GA, never reopened after the twister struck it. A new, $125 million hospital, slated to open in 2010, will replace the old facility, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Several hundred employees, residents, and former patients attended a ceremony marking the start of demolition.

Platinum subscribers and free trial users to the Hospital Safety Center can read tips from Sumter about surviving the aftermath of the tornado.