Need to Find Vassar’s New Emergency Room? Get Ready to Get Lost

If you haven't been to the emergency room at Vassar Brother's Hospital in a while, finding it might be harder than you remember.

After a long wait and millions of dollars in renovations Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, New York is and has been officially open for a while now but for many Hudson Valley residents like myself navigating the new campus isn't as easy as you would think and for one Wappingers Falls mom it turned into an adventure. Mom emailed us to explain,

"Hey CJ, Vassar Hospital has a new emergency room? Am I the last person to know about this? On Monday (1/10/22), my daughter accidentally punctured her hand with a knife and after talking with my pediatrician, he told me to go to the emergency room. So I quickly got her in the car and we headed over to Vassar. The bleeding had stopped we were not in panic mode so I parked in the parking garage and we walked up to where I thought the emergency room was. At least that’s where it was about two years ago which was the last time I was there. When we walked up, I saw that the emergency room entrance parking area was roped off and very dark."

Mom sent us a picture to show us what she was seeing...

She went on to explain that,

"I also noticed that there were no ambulances to be found and honestly I became a little worried because I had no idea where to go. I decided to go to the main entrance of the hospital and as I got close to the doors, I saw what appeared to be a sign on 8 X 10 paper taped to the door and pole that said that the emergency room is now located in building A. What?? Building A?? Luckily there was a security guard in the lobby so I asked him where the emergency room was? He asked me where I parked, and I pointed out to the garage to my left. He then told me I had to go back to my car, leave the garage, and take 3 rights to get to the emergency room."

WOW, so far I'm thinking that a trip to the EMERGENCY room isn't supposed to be this confusing. She went on to explain,

"We got in the car, left the garage, but wait, do I take three rights at stop signs, the end of the road, or the first road to take a right on? OMG..now my nerves and frustration are kicking in. I decided to go to the first stop sign and take a right, go to the end of the road and take another right. I see a big sign, that has listings on it. On the top, it says emergency room, with an arrow, but I have no idea where the arrow is pointing. I think I am going in the right direction. I see a parking garage, except it says physician parking only. So, I moved on to the next parking garage entrance. How can it be this hard to find the emergency room??!!! I get back to the side road and see another sign–another arrow, but now there are three ways I can go."

OMG, this is getting me frustrated, "what if this were a REAL life or death emergency?" The good news is they did finally find the emergency room and she did end her email saying that she and her daughter can now laugh about their adventure but said,

"Bottom line, it shouldn’t be that complicated to find the emergency room. Signs should be larger, directions should be clearer. I’m hoping that my frustrating “adventure” will bring some awareness to others, and save them the aggravation."

I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to go to the Vassar emergency room and the last time was over 3 years ago so now knowing that it's located in a completely new place is super helpful. This is what the new entrance to the emergency room looks like so if you have to go you know what you are looking for.