Dutchess To Add Mental Health Beds

County partners with MidHudson Regional on project 

Dutchess County and WMCHealth announced on Tuesday (June 28) that a new Behavioral Health Center of Excellence with additional beds for mental health patients is planned for MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie. 

The county is contributing $3 million to the project, which will involve renovating the hospital’s existing behavioral health units to add 20 more beds, bringing the total to 60, as well as shared community spaces and nursing stations. 

WMCHealth, the system that runs MidHudson Regional, must first get approval for the project from the state’s Health and Mental Health departments, said Marc Molinaro, Dutchess County’s executive. The first phase is expected to be completed late next year. 

“This new center, the result of an extraordinary public-private partnership, will not only change lives, it will save them,” said Molinaro.