History

How it all started...

1889
A small group of community minded women led the way by purchasing a pre-revolutionary house on lower South Street in Peekskill which became the Helping Hand Hospital.

Helping Hand Hospital.

1908
The Dr. John N. Tilden Wing is erected at the site of the original house where ten years later a second wing was added in memory of area firemen who died during the famous Fleischmann's building fire.

1926
A third floor is built for maternity care, expanding the Hospital's bed capacity to 78.

1950
Peekskill Hospital Medical Staff.

1966
A new site more centrally located on Route 202 (Crompond Road) in the Town of Cortlandt Manor is identified, and a brand new Hospital is built, featuring 114 beds.

1978
The addition of the Terner Pavilion is completed and houses a new emergency department, radiology department and intensive care unit.

1992
Changes and growth propel the Hospital to begin a major expansion project, the Wagner Pavilion, to include a new emergency department, laboratory, operating rooms and ambulatory surgery suite. The Hospital also takes a new name to better reflect its regional presence as a leading health care facility in the Hudson Valley.

Celebrating a New Millennium

2001
The maternity unit goes through a major renovation, bringing new moms private rooms in a hotel-like environment as well as whirlpool tubs in every labor/delivery room.

One of five private labor and delivery rooms available at the Women's Pavilion for Birthing.

2002
A progressive care unit is built on the rooftop of the Wagner Pavilion, an eight-bed unit designed to meet the needs of patients requiring critical care.

2003
The Wellness Club opened--an innovative adult fitness center--at the nearby Cortlandt Town Center.

Planning for Tomorrow

The expansion of diagnostic imaging brings an open MRI to the campus, part of a $7 million investment in new technology. The opening of a neonatal intensive care unit brings critical care to infants born at the Hospital. In addition, plans are underway to replace the aging medical/surgical patient rooms with state-of-the-art private rooms with individual baths. The emergency department will, once again be expanded to increase capacity and adapt to the new demands of emergency preparedness.

"No wait ER"

With the help of a $500,000 challenge grant from Entergy Nuclear Northeast, Hudson Valley Hospital Center has refurbished the Emergency Department to include the "no-wait ER" concept. These renovations allow for a significant change in the "typical' process for a patient presenting to the Emergency Department. By moving the registration function to the bedside and creating more triage and treatment space, patients bypass the usual registration function and can be facilitated to a treatment area much quicker.

Other structural changes were made including: three new nurse triage rooms, four new treatment rooms, and a comfortable reception area. In addition, is a separate entrance for the special decontamination room available 24-hours a day to handle a patient who must be isolated during treatment in the emergency room.

"These changes to the physical plant are happening now, we can't wait any longer," states John C. Federspiel, hospital president. "We have begun a major renovation project that will add 133,000 square feet to the facility. It is the most expensive building project to date. Completion is expected in 2010," he further states. All private rooms, new surgery center, new ambulatory care building and a multi-level parking structure are some of the enhancements expected as part of the new construction project.