THREE RIVERS, Mich. — Weeks after a tornado tore through Three Rivers on March 6, the damage is still visible.
Inside Three Rivers Health Hospital, part of Beacon Health System, the story is also about what happened in the moments during and after the storm, and how close one situation came to turning deadly.
Del Eastes was not expecting severe weather when he arrived that afternoon. He came to the hospital because he was not feeling well, something he later learned required immediate attention.
“We decided to come to the hospital,” Eastes said. “Considering what the diagnostics revealed, it was the right thing to do at the time.”
As he made his way inside, winds suddenly intensified.
“Wind started to blow and blew the doors off,” he said.
Inside, patient access representative Abigail Hostetler had been monitoring weather alerts and helping move patients to safer areas of the building.
“We had gotten a warning for a tornado,” Hostetler said. “Within five minutes, we had patients down the hallway.”
Staff had already begun clearing waiting areas and directing people away from the entrance when Eastes approached the building.
Hostetler said she recognized him immediately from his years volunteering at the hospital’s snack bar.
“I knew I had to step in,” she said.
Instead of taking cover, she went to meet him.
“I couldn’t go hide,” Hostetler said. “I had to go out there.”
The two made it inside as the storm pushed through the building. Hostetler guided him to a wall and tried to keep him calm as debris moved around them.
“You could feel the pressure drop in your ears,” she said.
Eastes said there was little time to process what was happening.
“You just react quickly,” he said.
At the same time, staff across the hospital were responding to the damage while continuing to care for patients.
“It was all hands on deck that day,” said Hope Bailey, vice president of nursing. “From our ER staff to nursing to physicians, everybody just stepped up.”
Bailey said employees worked to move patients to safety, clear debris and keep services running even as parts of the facility were damaged.
“We never closed services,” she said. “We continued to see emergency room patients.”
For Eastes, the storm was only part of the emergency. He was later transported to a hospital in Elkhart, Indiana, where he received additional care and has since recovered.
“There was a stroke involved, very, very minor,” he said. “But it wasn’t something that we should not have addressed.”
Looking back, he credits both the decision to seek care and Hostetler’s actions inside the hospital.
“She knew exactly what she was doing,” Eastes said. “She’s really kind of a hero, I’d say she saved my life.”
For Hostetler, the moment came during an already difficult time. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in November and had surgery just two weeks before the tornado.
“I was unable to really move anything heavy, I felt kind of helpless at the same time,” she said.
Even so, she said her focus remained on patients.
“I would want someone to do that for my parents, my family members, for myself,” Hostetler said.
In the days following the storm, hospital staff continued treating patients while repairing damage and reorganizing services. Some employees worked overnight, and leadership remained on-site to manage recovery efforts.
For Bailey, the response reflected the people inside the hospital as much as the training they rely on.
“It was a proud moment,” she said. “People are amazing.”
