Alan Gerry and State Senator John J. Bonacic, today announced a combined State and Private partnership which will see more than $5 million invested in Catskill Regional Medical Center’s Emergency room to completely renovate and upgrade the facility.

“Nearly every family in Sullivan County, at some time will come to this Emergency Room in crisis. Sullivan County is a growing County and people need a state of the art emergency room,” Senator Bonacic said.

The Senator said the partnership – $2.5 million from Alan and Sandra Gerry, and the Gerry family, and $2.55 million secured by Senator Bonacic is another example of “the private sector and State working together to do good things here in Sullivan County.” The Senator applauded the Gerry family for their “amazing generosity to the people of Sullivan County,” adding “if we had a family like this in every one of the counties of our Senate District, that constantly gives back, we would have an even greater Hudson Valley and Catskills Region.”

Mr. Gerry and Senator Bonacic began to explore the idea of partnering to redevelop the hospital’s emergency room last fall. The State funding for the renovation consists of grants totaling $250,000 from the Healthcare Reform act secured by Senator Bonacic; an additional budget item of $300,000 secured by Senator Bonacic as part of this year’s Health Budget; and $2 million in capital funding secured by Senator Bonacic through the State’s capital budget, adopted by the Senate earlier this week.

Alan Gerry said, “A hospital is the last place anyone wants to go to, but when you go to it you want it to be well equipped, have up-to-date technology and highly skilled medical staff. Helping to take this hospital to the next level is a wonderful opportunity and one I am pleased to partner with Senator Bonacic to make happen.”

The current hospital emergency room was built with the expectation it would serve 17,000 patients per year. Instead, it serves 26,000 patients per year. Catskill Regional has undergone a substantial and positive transformation over the past two years, has substantially expanded its physician services and has affiliated with Orange Regional Medical Center.

Steve Ruwoldt, CEO of the hospital said, “The emergency room expansion announced today is a project unrivaled in the thirty year history of this hospital. Having the Gerry Family and State – through Senator Bonacic, invest this kind of funding is a demonstration of their confidence in how far we have come. Treating people with the newest technology in our emergency room will save lives and make a patient’s time here as positive as it can be under the circumstances.”

Todd McKoy, R.N., Clinical Director of Emergency Services, “State of the art care in a spacious and well equipped emergency room is not a luxury. It is something that patients deserve and the improvements this funding will bring with it are key. It is wonderful that our elected officials and community leaders such as Senator Bonacic and Alan Gerry recognize the work we do here in the ER.”

In addition to affiliating with Orange Regional Medical Center, the hospital has also elected a new Board of Directors over the past year and a half. The current directors include Gerald Skoda, Darrell Supak, Mario Martinez, Greg Cooper, Marc Baez, Joan Farrow, Rick Lander, Joseph Loughlin, Dr. Joseph Napolitano, Jacqueline Ricciani, Dr. Louis Rodrigues, and Allan Scott.

Darrell Supak, Vice-Chair of the Board said, “The hospital is moving in the right direction in all aspects of quality care. This funding will allow for a total restructuring of our Emergency Services Department, increased bed space, state of the art monitoring and lifesaving equipment to be installed. The bottom line – this will save lives.”