"I should point out that while I get the award, it was for the great work that everyone else does here at the hospital," he said this week, while healthcare concerns grabbed headlines across the nation. "It's nice to see what we're doing here attracting notice in this positive way."

Kelley explained that a big reason for the award was ERH's leadership role in combating the opioid epidemic that currently plagues our area, as well as the rest of the nation.

"It recognizes our work in this area, reducing opiate use," he explained. "We are now prescribing opiates 85 percent less than we were at the peak. We have set in place protocols to move people into appropriate primary care for pain management and help those with addiction issues."

Kelley noted how the pendulum has swung back and forth on the issue of opiates in managing pain. Once, American health systems were so loath to prescribe morphine that people died, screaming in agony. Then, in the 1990s, it moved the other way and somewhere along the line, that got out of hand and Oxycontin became the problem pill of our times. Now a new, more sophisticated approach is being taken and ERH is at the forefront of this effort.

"You can treat most pain without narcotics," Kelley said while staying mindful that sometimes they are the only thing that works... even though he reiterated that the days of people getting heavy prescriptions of opioids, at least at ERH, are over.

Beyond the awards, we asked Kelley how the effort to raise funds for a proposed new hospital is going.

Last autumn, Kelley announced a major $50 million effort to replace the current hospital with a new building that would be constructed around the current hospital, which would then be removed when the new one was ready.

"We can do this!" Kelley announced at the annual fund raiser as he unveiled the ambitious plans, spreading a grand sense of pre-election optimism through the room.

"On the fundraising, I've met with Senator Bonacic and with Congressman Faso. Bonacic will do what he can to get us some funding. Congressman Faso said that he's a little new to the job down in Washington to make any promises," Kelley replied to our queries. "I said, jokingly, 'What about getting us a little bit of "Replace" to ERH to go with the repeal of Obamacare. He laughed, but then noted how very supportive of the hospital he is and how he understands how important it is to his district. He's visited the hospital, too."

Another straw in the fundraising wind will be the upcoming visit of Dan Shepherd, of the State Office of Primary Care and Health System Management.

"They are sending three staff members with him to take a look at ERH. We will be making the case to them about why we need a new hospital," Kelley said. "We have made a tremendous change in how we operate. We were 99 percent inpatient care, and now we're just 25 percent inpatient. The rest is outpatient. And our numbers are up! But this is an older facility and many things have changed since it was built in the 1960s. For one example, the size of required hospital rooms has increased by 50 percent and they must be single patient rooms."

Under Kelley's leadership, Ellenville Regional Hospital has established something of a national reputation for good business practices.

"I will be making a presentation to the Rural National Health Conference shortly, and emphasizing our way of reaching patient satisfaction," he added. "That's kind of amazing for such a little hospital, to be chosen for this."

The overall issue for ERH in finding state funding to bring about the planned new building, Kelley added, will be overcoming the state's tendency to only give money to things that are about to fail or fall down.

"Our pitch to the state is simple: We need some help here to replace our hospital because we're successful, not because of failures. We need to keep moving forward and ultimately that will be better both in terms of health outcomes but also in financial ones," he said. "Plus, the money we seek is a drop in the proverbial ocean."

He added how crucial government funding will be for any growth and expansion.

"Can't borrow enough to support a capital project of this size," Kelley concluded. "What we have to do is to stitch together a complicated quilt of funding to let us do this."