AMERICUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Thirteen months after an EF-3 tornado destroyed Sumter Regional, hospital employees as well the Americus community came together to celebrate the next step of the rebuilding process, with the ribbon cutting of their new interim medical facility.

The 76-bed hospital comes fully equipped with state of the art technology...some say it's even better than the old hospital.

"It's a surprise how well it came out, seeing it from the beginning... it's just so much more than we expected," said Janice Cottle, an employee at Sumter Regional.

Since the tornado, Sumter Regional has not offered many services except for Urgent Care.

With the new facility, they can better treat emergencies, as well as offer other services like maternity and pediatric care.

"We've got maternity care services again...women have been traveling great distances to deliver their babies, and overall, people are just anxious to get back home, and see the new facility," said David Seagraves, president and CEO of Sumter Regional Hospital.

"Behind every dark cloud is a silver lining, and this facility is the silver lining, and the prospects for the permanent facility are even more exciting," said Congressman Sanford Bishop.

The groundbreaking on the permanent facility was scheduled for this October, but it has been pushed back because of funding issues.

Hospital officials hope they can find more sources of money, and complete the permanent hospital by 2010.

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