A Ford Taurus goes through a Michigan hospital’s fourth-floor window — on purpose

News stories about cars entering buildings are normally a lot more traumatic.

A Grand Rapids, Michigan, hospital on Saturday hoisted a reconfigured Ford Taurus into its fourth floor to help patients get ready to return to the real world, WXMI reported.

“(You) can’t go home unless you can get in the car,” said Steve Brodnicki, director of inpatient rehabilitation at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, WOOD reported.

Patients will be able to practice getting in and out, changing seat positions, adjusting the steering wheel, using the trunk and other car-related tasks without going outside, WOOD reported.

“We have a hospital setting and it’s not always what you experience back at home, so we try to bring as much of the stuff as we can from the outside world in so they can practice,” Brodnicki said, WXMI reported.

Weller Auto Parts donated the vehicle, while Ebels Construction and Arrow Crane Services put the car into place on the hospital’s fourth floor, according to the station. The entire project cost about $20,000.

“What a fun job!! First time I’ve been called to put a car in through a 4th story window!” Arrow Crane Services wrote on Facebook.

Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital began in 1891 as an effort to raise funds to pay for a single free bed at a Grand Rapids hospital for indigent patients, according to the hospital’s website.

Organizers asked for contributions from anyone named Mary, or anyone knowing a Mary, giving rise to the project’s name, the site says. In the 1930s, the organization opened a 12-bed hospital for children. Most recently, a six-story, 167-bed flagship hospital opened in 2015.

This story was originally published April 7, 2019 at 7:27 AM with the headline "A Ford Taurus goes through a Michigan hospital’s fourth-floor window — on purpose."