POUGHKEEPSIE, NY—Vassar Brothers Medical Center has announced plans to build a new $466-million, 696,000-square-foot, seven-level inpatient pavilion at its hospital campus off of Route 9 here.

A certificate of need has been filed with the New York State Department of Health. Contingent upon DOH's expected approval by the end of this year, hospital officials state in an announcement that they plan a groundbreaking for the project in May 2016 with the first patient being cared for in the building by January of 2019. The project is believed to be the largest capital project in the history of the City of Poughkeepsie.

Vassar Brothers Medical Center is the flagship hospital of Health Quest, a Hudson Valley, NY-based group of nonprofit hospitals and healthcare providers that also includes Northern Dutchess Hospital and Putnam Hospital Center.

The new pavilion will add 64 private medical/surgical patient rooms and 30 critical care rooms to the Vassar campus. The new building on the Medical Center property adjacent to Route 9 and the Hudson River will connect to the existing facility, parts of which are 128 years old.

“Vassar Brothers Medical Center will transform patient care and the patient and family experience in the Hudson Valley with this project,” medical center President Robert Friedberg states. “Making that transformation requires state-of-the art facilities to provide patients with the privacy and healing environment they deserve.”

Funding for the project will come from private hospital funds and hospital bonds. The Foundation for Vassar Brothers Medical Center will conduct a fundraising campaign to help support the project.

“Dutchess County is privileged to have Health Quest invest so greatly in the county and the City of Poughkeepsie, specifically,” Dutchess County Executive Marcus J. Molinaro says. “This historic undertaking will not only improve the quality of lives for county residents, but it will also mark Dutchess County as a leader in the region in patient care.”

Plans for the state-of-the-art building include: 264 medical/surgical private rooms; 30 intensive-care unit rooms; an emergency department with 66 treatment rooms and parking for ambulances and the public; a loading dock with 12 bays for materials management; a flexible conference center with three large rooms for use by public and service groups; additional parking for the campus with 265 spaces; a gift shop; a 240-seat cafeteria with an outdoor veranda; new operating rooms, green roofs and a rooftop helipad.