(Radio Iowa) – The hospital in the southwest Iowa town of Greenfield is fully reopening today (Monday), nearly six months after being severely damaged in a tornado. Philicia Hancock, the hospital’s chief clinical officer, says major parts of the hospital are finally up and running, including the inpatient floor and the emergency room.

“The closest hospital for ER is about 20-25 minutes,” Hancock says, “and so that’s why we’ve been trying hard to get back open to be able to provide those emergency services that our patients really count on.” The E-F-4 tornado that tore through Greenfield last spring didn’t directly hit the Adair County Memorial Hospital, but its strong winds and flying debris caused enough damage that the hospital had to close. Hancock says the facility faced a long list of challenges to get it’s doors fully reopened.

“The whole construction process, making sure that we’re rebuilding to meet code, to meet our needs,” she says. “Being patient has been the biggest challenge, and we wanted to be open months ago, and that just wasn’t feasible.”

The May 21st tornado killed four people and injured at least 35.