Sights and sounds from VBMC on Thursday:
POUGHKEEPSIE – Persistent electrical problems at the nearly $500 million Vassar Brothers Medical Center forced first responders to start evacuating patients in the Intensive Care and Critical Care units at approximately 9 p.m. As many as 27 patients were expected to be transferred by ambulance to other hospitals including MidHudson Regional Hospital, Kingston Hospital, Danbury Hospital, Putnam Hospital, and Westchester Medical Center.
At least one patient was transferred by medivac helicopter to another facility.
The generator power supply was also malfunctioning earlier in the evening, triggering a blackout and forcing staff to use the flashlights on their cell phones to navigate throughout the building. Later in the evening, workers were able to restart the generator and keep it running, providing emergency lighting in the hospital.
A “Mass Casualty Incident” (MCI) was declared, bringing resources to the hospital from numerous agencies throughout Dutchess County to assist with the transfers. Several ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulances from agencies including Fairview, NDP, and Empress were staged near the hospital while plans were finalized to determine which patients were being transported and to what hospital. The line of ambulances stretched more than a block, with the crews waiting for orders.
At 11:00 PM, more than an hour after Mid Hudson News published news of the evacuation, the hospital posted the following statement on social media:
The new hospital, which opened in January 2021 also experienced an oil spill a month after the facility opened. That spill resulted in 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel (home heating oil #2) being dumped into the nearby wastewater treatment plant, requiring a spill recovery response and an investigation by DEC.
