For longtime Ellenville resident, Carol Lounsbery, the equation is simple: no stairs, plus no yard, equals a move to the newly completed and opened the Ellenville Senior Apartments on the Ellenville Regional Hospital's campus.

"I've rented the same house for 20 years, and before that, the house next door for another 10," says Lounsbery. She says that, now that she's getting older, dealing with the responsibilities of having to take care of the yard at her split-level house — and then having to negotiate the stairs when she wants to get anywhere inside the house — staying at her current home, despite her long residency there, is "just too much anymore.

"The apartments are gorgeous — absolutely gorgeous," she says of the new apartment complex, which is currently all booked up. "They really thought it out — you have plenty of room for all of your stuff. They're very, very nice."

The new housing project which has Lounsbery so excited to move from her home of the last two decades has sprung up on the hospital's campus over the course of this year, thanks in large part to $8 million in funding from the state and the efforts of State Senator John Bonacic (R/I/C - Mount Hope). The complex contains 55 units, which are currently all booked up, and rents span from $210 to $560 a month, depending on residents' incomes. According to Ellenville Regional Hospital President and CEO Steve Kelley, the prices are geared toward modest- to low-income seniors in the area.

During the construction phase of the project in June, Jim Capuano, the project's Construction Supervisor said that the unpredictable and wet winter weather had slowed the project's progress, and that their goal of completing the apartments by September 1 was not a sure bet. Fortunately, plans have gone accordingly, and the new tenants of the apartments began to move in this past Labor Day.

"We didn't have any big fanfare because that kind of thing is difficult when people are struggling with their luggage and things, trying to move in," says Kelley, reporting that a ribbon-cutting will take place later on in the month, after the new residents have settled into their new homes.

Kelley also says that the hospital's pharmacist, Michael Stearns, who also works at Ellenville's Matthews Pharmacy, and is a well-known and long-standing community-member, will be available to give the new residents consultations regarding their medications, and to help them understand their medications better should they request such information.

"He's a very trusted person," says Kelley of Stearns. "People trust their pharmacists more than anyone." Kelley also says that other members of the hospital's various departments will be made available as time goes on so that the new residents will be able to take advantage of all the benefits that their proximity to the hospital offers. However, despite being so near the hospital, these are folks who will be up and active around the area, and Kelley hopes that many may even join the hospital's auxiliary, providing care and service to patients being treated at the medical facility.

"This is not a nursing home — these are independent seniors," says Kelley. "They're very 'youthful' seniors…though that sounds a bit like an oxymoron," he laughs. "This is a wonderful place for our seniors to live," Kelley adds.

And as for Carol Lounsbery? As an active member of the hospital auxiliary, she'll be moving in on September 13, after the auxiliary luncheon this coming Monday. "After I get the luncheon finished, then I can concentrate on moving," she says.

And what's she looking forward to most about her swanky new digs?

"No stairs, no yard."

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