City: Poughkeepsie
State:  New York
General Contractors: Walsh and Consigli

Supporting Healthcare Expansion: Drilled Shaft Foundations at Vassar Brothers Medical Center

In 2016, Nuvance Health—a not-for-profit health system serving communities across New York’s Hudson Valley and western Connecticut—announced a major $545 million expansion of Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) in Poughkeepsie, NY. The focal point of this project was the construction of a 752,610-square-foot patient pavilion designed to improve patient care and capacity.

Schnabel’s Role

General contractors Walsh and Consigli contracted with Schnabel to design and install the deep foundation system for the new structure. Schnabel was responsible for installing more than 180 drilled shafts to support the new pavilion. The shafts varied in depth from 30 to 50 feet, with an average rock embedment depth of 8 feet.

Challenges

The project presented several logistical and environmental challenges:

• Winter Conditions: Construction occurred during the freezing New York winter, which brought safety hazards and equipment constraints. The cold weather required strict adherence to safety protocols.
• Difficult Soil Conditions: The drilling process was complicated by complex soil profiles, requiring careful planning and specialized drilling techniques to maintain productivity.
• Constrained Site Access: The jobsite was very congested, with several contractors and trades working simultaneously. This created significant space and access limitations, especially for transporting and operating the large caisson drill rig. Close coordination was important to stay on schedule.

Conclusion

Despite the complex conditions, Schnabel successfully installed all the drilled shafts to the client’s satisfaction. Today, the newly renovated VBMC Patient Pavilion offers expanded capacity to serve hundreds of patients from the Hudson Valley region and beyond.