Many Evacuated: Update On Power Outage At Hudson Valley Hospital

Hospital officials gave us a timeline of what may have caused the massive power outage that forced patients to be evacuated.

City Of Poughkeepsie officials declared a "mass-casualty issue" at Vassar Brothers Medical Center just before 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Power Outage At Vassar Brothers Medical Center In Dutchess County, New York

Electrical issues had reportedly been affecting the hospital days prior to the event and earlier on Thursday.

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"On Thursday, a power outage occurred in the patient pavilion at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Our incident command system was immediately activated to manage the situation," Vassar Brothers Medical Center said in a statement.

Issues Started Early Thursday Afternoon

Around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the hospital "transitioned to generator power."

Thursday evening the hospital "experienced a brief full power outage."

"In an abundance of caution and with patient safety as our top priority, we transferred our most critical patients to neighboring hospitals to ensure their continued care," officials stated.

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Critical patients were relocated to Mid Hudson Regional Hospital, Kingston Hospital, Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital and Westchester Medical Center.

It's unclear how many patients were transferred.

Power Restored

Vassar officials report the power was fully restored by 11 p.m. on Thursday. Officials didn't confirm that until Friday.

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"Our engineers and electricians worked diligently to implement necessary repairs," Vassar Brothers Medical Center said. " We are deeply grateful for the swift support from local agencies. We also appreciate the cooperation of neighboring hospitals that provided critical care beds for our patients during this emergency."

All Patients "Safe" With "High-Quality Care"

Hospital officials add during the entire incident patients "remained safe" and received "high-quality care."

"Our staff demonstrated exceptional dedication and professionalism, maintaining our uncompromised standards of care. Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding," the hospital concluded in its statement.

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