When Steve Kelley first came to Ellenville Regional Hospital to take over as CEO, a colleague informed him that it would be a good professional experience to learn how to close a hospital. After nearly three years, Mr. Kelley has yet to have the benefit of that experience as he has overseen a turnaround of dramatic proportions. Now, he can look back and consider the long and difficult road the hospital has traveled under his direction. But Kelley can also look forward to Monday, August 7, 2006 when the hospital will hold its groundbreaking ceremony for its new Emergency Department.

"We had to get through several challenges to get to this point. I think we had a pretty remarkable recovery. I would not have predicted in 2004 that we would be here. I don't think anyone would have," Kelley said.

While no one could have predicted the hospital's dramatic turnaround from bankruptcy to groundbreaking, Kelley made it clear that seemingly everyone joined in the effort to keep the hospital alive. Though the Hospital announced that it had received a grant in the amount of $750,000 to help fund the construction project from the New York State Department of Health, additional funding was needed. That funding was provided by Senator John Bonacic, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, Congressman Maurice Hinchey, the Ulster County Legislature and the private contributions of Mrs. Mildred Resnick, the Gillette and MacDonald families and the community at large.

As Mr. Kelley put it, "The hospital would not have made it without a lot of hard scrapping on the part of the community. We had help from all over."

Looking back on the last three years, Kelley was able to offer his perspective on the position that he and the hospital find themselves in, "It feels good. This has been an extremely challenging assignment here and to get through all of the hurdles we had to get through. It is extremely gratifying to get to the point where we are having the groundbreaking for this Emergency Department."

But Kelley wished to make it clear that he was not sitting on any laurels. Instead, he explained the management philosophy that he brought to the job. "In some ways, I am looking through it [the groundbreaking]. In a lot of respects, I am looking beyond this point now. Getting to this point was a goal. You have to balance today's operations within the context of the fiscal year because that's your benchmark. But then you also need to look out over the next two to four years. And I can tell you that until now I wasn't looking that far ahead. We were looking at getting through the year and at certain points, getting through the month. At some points, I wondered if I would run out of cash before the payroll got done."

But now that the Hospital has gotten free and clear of its bankruptcy troubles, Kelley is focusing on plans for the future, "I've got three or four years of ideas – some of which will be in front of the planning board in the next few months. Last year we did the lab, the swing program and bought the campus. This year we'll do radiology, the ER and lay the groundwork for some senior options."

The new state-of-the-art Emergency Department will be the first major change to the hospital's footprint since construction was completed in 1967. The completion date for this construction project is tentatively scheduled for April of 2007 with a grand opening in May 2007. "We have an architect gathering the bid specs. We have the money together. I want it available for next summer and we are on schedule to do that," Kelley said.

The construction of the new Emergency Department is one more step in the hospital's renaissance in recent years. Emerging from bankruptcy, adding new services and personnel, strengthening ties with medical professionals from nearby communities, and rebuilding community confidence have been key to the Hospital's resurgence.

The area community is invited to the Ellenville Regional Hospital's groundbreaking ceremony for its new Emergency Department on Monday, August 7, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. on the hospital campus. The guest list already includes Assemblyman Kevin Cahill and State Senator John Bonacic. "We are still trading phone calls with Congressman Maurice Hinchey. I don't know if he'll come or not. It would be wonderful if he did," Kelley said.

So, what does a new Emergency Department mean for the future of Ellenville Regional Hospital? Kelley explained, "It will improve our ability to take care of people. It will show the community that the hospital is alive and kicking. We are in a phase of rebirth or regeneration and that's not something that happens and then stops."

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