St. Luke’s Home and Hospital opened on May 4, 1875 in a house known as Mr. Baldwin’s cottage, located at the corner of Dubois and Third Streets in Newburgh, New York. The facility had a three-bed capacity, one of 149 such institutions throughout the nation. The patient census that first year was 33.

By 1894, the annual census was nearly 200. The majority of patients that year were surgical, since a new wing and a well-equipped operating room had been built: surgery was no longer performed on a plain wooden table. Since there were no elevators in the three-story hospital, patients were carried up and down stairs via canvas sheets.

After several relocations, St. Luke’s found a permanent home with the purchase of the Sigler school property on Dubois Street in 1909. The old school was completely renovated and doubled in size to provide patient rooms and operating theaters. The number of beds was now 84, and the annual census rose to over 900.

In order to continue its commitment to excellence, St. Luke’s opened the Elaine Kaplan Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in 1997. In 1999, the critical care units of the hospital were totally renovated. The mother/baby project was completed in 2000, which included the renovations of the existing labor and post-partum units and the addition of Labor, Delivery and Post-Partum rooms. The hospital’s current certified 242-bed capacity includes 182 medical/surgical beds, 18 critical care beds, 23 obstetric beds, and 19 pediatric beds.

A completely renovated and expanded Emergency Department, the Kaplan Family Center for Emergency Medicine, opened at the Newburgh campus in 2004. On Valentine's Day 2005, a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab opened.

To accommodate growing outpatient services, several satellite facilities were opened, including the Dialysis Center, Rehabilitation Center at New Windsor, and the Outpatient Care Center located on 9W in the Town of Newburgh. The hospital also is affiliated with Hudson Valley Imaging, a state-of-the-art, all-digital imaging center near Stewart Airport.

Cornwall Campus

In the 1920s, when Dr. Ernest Stillman, a Cornwall resident and founder of The Cornwall Hospital, had to drive a sick child to a hospital for treatment, the trip was a difficult one. Unfortunately, the child died. As a result, Dr. Stillman resolved to build and furnish a hospital in Cornwall.

The Cornwall Hospital was incorporated in 1923 and the first patient was admitted to the original 65-bed facility on April 4, 1931. An expansion was completed in 1964 providing a new 40-bed wing. In 1974 a major expansion added additional beds, provided an enlarged modernized emergency room, extensions of the first- and second-floor nursing units and included the refurbishment of the admitting area. The facilities for radiology, respiratory care, EKG/EEG, and physical therapy were also improved at that time.

In 1982, the hospital dedicated a new state-of-the-art 10-bed intensive care/coronary care unit and in 1986 the ambulatory surgery suite was opened. The Endoscopy suite opened in 1990. In 1991, a 20-bed acute care mental health unit opened. The hospital’s current certified 125-bed capacity includes 93 medical/surgical beds; 10 critical care; and 22 acute behavioral health beds. Other services include wound care, pain management, radiology, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, and EKG/EEG.

A completely renovated and expanded Emergency Department, the Littman Center for Emergency Medicine, opened at the Cornwall campus in 2003.