It was nearly 40 years ago to the day that President of the United States Lyndon Baines Johnson came to Ellenville to speak at the groundbreaking for the Ellenville Regional Hospital. Now, the embattled hospital demonstrates that it has found its footing and will not only continue to exist, but grow.

The ceremony, which began at 11 AM, was held on the front lawn of the hospital’s campus and was attended by well over a hundred people including Congressman Maurice Hinchey, State Senator John Bonacic and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill as well as several county, town and village officials.

Opening remarks were made by Ellenville Regional Hospital CEO Steve Kelley. He was followed by Reverend Julius Collins, who offered a blessing to the hospital and its mission for the community.

Following Rev. Collins was Rich Gillettte, who spoke on behalf of the Gillette and McDonald families, both of which had raised large sums of money for the hospital.

After that, Congressman Hinchey, Senator Bonacic and Assemblyman Cahill all took turns speaking about their own connections with the hospital and with the community of Ellenville and Wawarsing.

Mrs. Mildred Resnick, accompanied by her daughter, Myrna, came to the podium at the end of the ceremony to present Mr. Kelley with a check for $250,000 that represented Louis Resnick’s last donation prior to his death.

As the ceremony progressed and each speaker offered his or her perspective about the day and what it symbolized, many congratulatory remarks were given to Mr. Kelley, Mrs. Resnick and the entire Ellenville-Wawarsing community.

Senator Bonacic offered the most vivid metaphor for the day’s events when he compared the success of the hospital to the Sylvester Stallone motion picture, “Rocky”, saying that “this is a ‘Rocky’ story”, and that the area was “full of Rockies”, meaning that the hospital had been an underdog that had fought its way back from closure to be a success and an inspiration for the area.

Every one of the speakers offered their congratulations and thanks to Mr. Kelley for his hard work and determination. But Mr. Kelley was quick to thank all of the elected officials from every level of government who had helped make the day possible. He offered a special thanks to Mrs. Resnick, who Mr. Kelley said had been his counsel when he and the hospital faced seemingly insurmountable odds.

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.