When Hurricane Sandy hit Staten Island, it forced the evacuation of the South Beach Psychiatric Center’s inpatient facility. Water rushed into the basement and destroyed its electrical system. Patients couldn’t return for weeks.

State officials broke ground Monday on a new $250 million building that will rise 20 feet above sea-level. They say it will also be able to handle another Sandy-like storm.

"This is really a rebuilding of this part of Staten Island. We are very proud that the Governor has put forward this beautiful building as part of that whole revitalization," said Dr. Ann Sullivan, Commissioner of New York State Office of Mental Health.

Officials say the building will have 250 inpatient beds for adults and 12 for children.

The Facility’s Executive Director says psychiatric admissions are on the rise, with most patients coming from Staten Island.

"Most of the folks who come here are folks who need additional time on medication or those folks who need medication fine tuning," said Dr. Rosanne Gaylor.

Officials tell us the new facility would be like an upscale apartment building. They say patients will have their own rooms. There will also be recreation spaces, a beauty salon and dental office.

"A stigma that is associated with mental illness is not in this building. The building says that they deserve the same high quality treatment that anyone else deserves," added Sullivan.

The building is expected to open in 2019. It will connect to the newly constructed Central Services Building, which was built with storm resilient features in 2014.