The president of OSF St. Joseph Medical Center estimates the hospital incurred at least $17 million worth of damage from last Thursday's microburst and heavy rain.
Derrick Frazier, who has held the position since June, said 11 spots on the roof were damaged. That let water into the hospital, and patients had to be moved to another area.
Frazier commended the quick action of hospital staff.
"It was as if we didn't have a roof, how everybody was getting wet," he said. "They were moving the patients from one side of the hospital to the other to get them into safety. So I commend the team for all of the hard work that they did."
As a result of the intense wind and rain, 57 hospital beds are temporarily out of commission. The hospital has 149 beds total.
Frazier also said the electrophysiologylLab was destroyed and will need to be replaced.
The hospital's damage is combined with structural damage, downed tree limbs, power outages and flooding throughout Bloomington-Normal.
Gov. JB Pritzker has issued a disaster proclamation for McLean County and 14 other Illinois counties. Champaign, Ford, Marshall and Tazewell counties in Central Illinois are included in the proclamation that makes additional state resources available to assist response and recovery efforts.
The disaster proclamation also includes storms on May 16, June 10-11, June 19-29, July 2-4 and July 27.
The proclamation enables rural communities to apply for up to $250,000 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Response funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In order to qualify for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], the population affected by the storms must meet a certain threshold for uninsured damage.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen estimated that number to be around $26 million when he toured OSF St. Joseph on Wednesday.
"I can go to the FEMA director and say this was because of one storm, we can categorize it altogether and now we need that FEMA declaration," said Sorensen, "and I'm optimistic."
OSF St. Joseph is still assessing the damage and what is covered by insurance. Frazier said their insurance adjuster is on site this week.
