After the quake, Suzu City General Hospital suspended outpatient services to focus on treating inpatients and emergency cases.
With many elderly locals requiring outpatient services, the hospital has freed up medical staff by transferring longer-term patients to other facilities to make drop-in visits possible in many departments.
After outpatient services resumed, many visitors came in for consultations with staff in internal medicine, orthopedics, and other specialties.
The hospital had been unable to provide care for visitors with pre-existing conditions such as heart and lung problems, but is now able to deal with such outpatients again.
A 35-year-old man who visited the hospital said, "I came here for an orthopedic checkup. I am glad that the hospital I am used to going to has reopened."
The head of the facility offered thanks to other hospitals who had accepted patients. "The reestablishment of outpatient services will provide local residents with peace of mind, and we want to move toward full reopening gradually," said executive director Ishii Kazukimi.
