By ANNEMARIE SCHUETZ
CALLICOON, NY — The sign on Route 97, at the entrance to the Grover Hermann Hospital, reminds drivers that “heroes work here.”
On September 30, the community had a chance to honor one of them.
Dr. Paul Salzberg, who has spent decades as the doctor for the collection of hamlets that make up this part of Sullivan County, announced his retirement in mid-September. His office closed at the end of the month.
Carefully socially distant and masked, the necessarily small number of celebrants, the group size due to COVID-19 being a serious concern for the hospital, sat outside under a tent. Goodwill and pride flowed.
The recognition of the area’s long-time doctor coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Grover Hermann Hospital, now known as the Callicoon campus of Garnet Health Medical Center—Catskills.
Garnet Catskills CEO Jonathan Schiller highlighted Salzberg’s “nearly 40 years of service to our community… [he was] in the right place, at the right time, with the right ideas.”
He spoke extensively about the hospital itself and the staff members who keep it going. “To me, today is all about special people.”
Schiller cited the Garnet Health Foundation. “Without them, none of this would be possible.” The same could be said of the Grover Hermann Auxiliary, which is also marking 50 years of service. Taking care of the myriad supplementary tasks in a hospital and ensuring that the needs of the community are conveyed to hospital administration, they too had a share in the 15-bed hospital’s success.
Schiller pivoted back to Salzberg. “He keeps us focused on the right thing,” the CEO said, “and he has earned the trust of thousands of patients and their families.” And with that, he presented Salzburg with a plaque commemorating his years of service.
Salzberg thanked the attendees and Schiller. “I’m very humbled and very thankful,” he said.
The ceremony then shifted to the ribbon-cutting for the new emergency department. The $1.1 million project improved much of the department’s infrastructure.
Standing at the entrance, armed with an enormous pair of scissors, Salzburg, surrounded by his family and his community, snipped the ribbon and inaugurated the next stage of health care in western Sullivan County.
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