Orange County, NY – The first new hospital in New York State in over two decades will redefine area medical care on Friday, August 5th as Orange County Regional Medical Center opens its doors in Middletown.
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With both a Level 2 trauma center and Level 2 NICU, a helipad, a fifty patient emergency room, a birthing center encompassing an entire floor of the 621,000 square foot facility, 353 private rooms and dedicated heart, cancer and bone joint centers, this state of the art hospital will bring top level medical care to Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
This new facility will be the first Catskills area hospital to be equipped with a Shabbos elevator and will have a fully stocked Shabbos room on the ground level, to accommodate the needs of Jewish patients and their families. The Shabbos room will be dedicated by the Friedman family in memory of Rabbi Morton Friedman, a’h, who established the original Shabbos rooms at Upstate Regional Medical Center and Arden Hill Hospital eighteen years ago.
Rabbi Friedman was a renowned resident of Kiryas Joel who was well known for his many acts of chesed and tzedaka. A dedicated Hatzala member, for 25 years! (KY 18 & B318) he was a chaplain for the Orange County Sherriff’s Office, the New York State Troopers Policeman’s Benevolence Association, Upstate Regional Medical Center and Arden Hill Hospital. Rabbi Friedman also served as the liaison between the Jewish community and the New York State Thruway Authority and spent countless hours ensuring the smooth operation of the Sloatsburg Mincha Area on the northbound Thruway, which was later renamed in his memory.
Rabbi Friedman passed away after a sudden illness 56 years of age in 2010.“We would like to express our gratitude to the hospital leadership for allowing us to continue my father’s legacy of establishing a Shabbos room for the benefit of the entire Jewish community,” said Rabbi Abe Friedman, a community leader. “Thanks to their generously allowing us a room on the G floor, family members of Jewish patients can have kosher food, a proper place to sleep and have all their religious needs met should they ever find themselves at Orange Regional Medical Center for any reason.”
Readers beware : Shabbos elevators are prohibited according to poskim knowledgeable with the physics behind it. The weight of the passengers actually generates electricity! As always discuss with a knowledgeable Rov. Of course in cases where life is in danger one must use any elevator.
The elevator is programed so that the weight has nothing to do with the running of the elevator for Shabbos. That’s why it’s called Shabbos elevator. I know because maimonides hospital sets their designated elevator every erev shabbos to work as a shabbos elevator.
A really nice story. Just for information, there was a story last year about some big rav in EY or NY paskining that shabbos elevators were assur. I know this shaiylah comes up every few years. I’m assuming there has been no change that the majority of gadolim still allow use of shabbos elevators.
We B”H never fail. Who on earth cares whether there will or won’t be gefilte fish in a bikur cholim room. First we want to know will it be a good hospital with professionals. Radiolloogists and specialists that can help heal our sick R”L. What kind of nursing care do they pledge to have. etc etc. Then we will worry about the sponge cake.
That is one of the problems we have with one of the local hospitals. Twenty liasons to the jewish community, apple juice as much as you want. Platitudes aplenty but very poor care. Lets focus all our attention to the care which is the ikur. then comes the toful which are the food for the family arrangements. thanks.
boruch hashem! i’ve been waiting ages for this. i go to the bikur choilim room there every shabbos to eat. the problem is i eat so much i have trouble getting down the stairs. now i will be able to use the elevator to get downstairs. by the way, the ac in the hospital is great too!
In response to “big fresser says” you should be ashamed of yourself! When I have a relative staying over shabbos or yom tov in the hospital and go to the bikur cholim room, there is hardly any food remaining. Now I know why! You remind me of the wife of a wealthy benefactor who visits the hospital just to empty out all the food in the bikur cholim room. Shame on both of you! That’s why we need cameras all over. We need to catch people like you who are so inconsiderate of others. I bet your wealthy and that’s how you became wealthy by not spending money on food!
I am responding to “big fresser”. Shame on you! When I have to be in a hospital over a shabbos or a yom tov, I am dependent on the food that the bikur cholim people are so nice to leave for the visitors. There you are eating all the food meant for the visitors of the sick. Have you no shame! You remind me of a wife of a wealthy benefactor who makes her rounds in the bikur cholim rooms and takes food all the time. I bet you’re wealthy too, and that’s how you became wealthy. That’s why they need cameras all over to spot people like you stealing food from visitors! Isn’t it a shame that we are now reduced to thinking of putting cameras in a bikur cholim room?
This article is about a hospital and it turned into an elevator and fress issue??? As for cams in the bikur cholim room, Maimonides has a cam and it’s been proven that people come in there and walk out with shopping bags full of food. There’s nothing you can do!