What is billed as the largest construction project in Poughkeepsie’s history, the new patient pavilion at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, moves from construction to completion when the emergency department and trauma center open on Jan. 9, to be followed on Jan. 11 by the rest of the facility.
The cost of the project originally had been estimated at $545 million. In June, the Business Journal reported that John Nelson, director of public and community affairs at Nuvance Health, of which the Vassar Brothers Medical Center is a member, said the Covid-19 pandemic had a financial impact on the project but the extent of it continued to be evaluated.
“Vassar Brothers Medical Center has been an integral part of this community for nearly 135 years and we will transform how people receive health care in the Hudson Valley with this pavilion,” Peter Kelly, president of the medical center said. “This is about providing the privacy and healing environment our community members deserve.”
The eight-story, 752,000-square-foot building has 294 patient rooms with 30 in the intensive care unit. The emergency department and trauma center has 66 treatment rooms and parking for ambulances and the public. There are 13 surgical suites in the building, which also has a conference center that can hold up to 300 people, a 220-seat cafeteria with outdoor dining and a rooftop helicopter landing pad.
“This is a picturesque, modern, innovative building, ushering in a new era of safe, high-quality health care,” Kelly said. “When you see it from Route 9 or the Mid-Hudson Bridge or even the Walkway Over the Hudson, it Ãs clear our pavilion is a new landmark and asset for the Hudson Valley community.”
The building was designed to be compatible with the topography of the Hudson River area and includes design elements such as an S-curve along with stone and mosaic finishes. The individual patient rooms are double the size of the existing 365-bed hospital’s semiprivate rooms. The pavilion incorporates energy efficient features and sustainable design such as a green roof and is expected to receive LEED certification for energy efficiency.
The building is situated on the 9-acre medical center campus adjacent to Route 9 and the Hudson River. Nuvance Health operates Northern Dutchess Hospital and Putnam Hospital in New York and Sharon, New Milford, Danbury and Norwalk hospitals in Connecticut.
Vassar Brothers Hospital opened its doors on April 11, 1887. It started with four wards of 10 beds, a labor and delivery ward, a nursery, a children”™s ward, three private rooms and two isolation rooms. In the first year of operation, 80 patients were admitted. The first building added at the hospital’s site was a barn to house the horses ridden by the doctors. The full rate for a patient stay was $3 per day.
