HARRIS — Administrators and staff members at the Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) were joined by Congressman John Faso on Wednesday as they celebrated the installation of their brand new federally-funded generator.

The hospital had received more than $1.7 million in grant funds last year from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). That money went a long way towards financing the more powerful and fuel-efficient 1,500-kilowatt generator that will protect their medical services from future power outages.

“Having this new generator means that we'll always have reliable back up power for critical, life-saving equipment and services in the event of a total hospital power failure,” said Catskill Regional Medical Center CEO Jonathan Schiller when the grant was announced last year.

CRMC had been planning to replace its 800-kilowatt generator since Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York in 2012. “We almost lost our generator during Hurricane Sandy. It was very close to failing. That really made us realize that we need to update and replace it,” explained Rolland “Boomer” Bojo, who serves as Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at CRMC, as well as administrator of the Grover M. Hermann Hospital Division in Callicoon.

Being involved in emergency services for most of his life, Bojo knew there were always funds that became available after an event like Hurricane Sandy. “We applied [to FEMA] and they didn't get back to us for a long time. Then we heard that we weren't going to get anything and that all the money was going to New York City. There's nothing wrong with money going to New York City, but the upstate New York hospitals deserve their fair share too.”

Bojo thanked Congressman Faso “from the bottom of my heart” for pressing FEMA and other necessary agencies to move this funding along for CRMC.

“Sandy was now six years ago,” said Faso on Wednesday. “The notion that it would take so long to get a necessary piece of mitigation infrastructure in place here ... my goodness. There could've been another event in the intervening time and then people would be pointing their fingers and asking, ‘where were the federal and state governments?'”

According to Bojo, the new generator will allow CRMC to run even their most high-energy services in the event of a power outage, including their CAT scan machines. “We're a stroke center here,” he explained. “Having a CAT scan and getting the clot busting medications quickly may mean the difference between no impairment or total impairment for the rest of your life.”