RGH dedicates conference room

Fred Anthony’s legacy will live on inside a room where he dedicated so much time to bettering Roosevelt General Hospital.

Hospital CEO Larry Leaming dedicated the hospital’s conference room, where the Board of Trustees meet, to the longtime board member on Tuesday by officially naming it the Fred Anthony Conference Room.

An Elida resident, Anthony died in a fatal vehicle accident along with his brother, Ronald Anthony, in August.

Christina Calloway: Portales News-Tribune

Roosevelt General Hospital officials dedicated the hospital’s conference room to longtime hospital board member Fred Anthony of Elida. Anthony died in August in a fatal car crash, and in his honor, officials renamed the conference room the Fred Anthony Conference Room.

“Fred was a huge part of this organization and a huge part of our lives,” Leaming said fighting back tears. “I can tell you his influence is alive and well and he’ll live forever in this place and in our hearts.”

Board members said they had a lot of respect for Anthony, describing him as someone who had no personal agenda and his only concern being the people of Roosevelt County.

“I miss Fred more than anything else,” said fellow board member Lorraine Goodrich. “He was a mentor to me.”

Goodrich said when having to make difficult decisions or solving problems, she’d often ask “What would Fred do?”

Board chairman Steven Connelly said Anthony didn’t speak up often, but when he did, his words were taken to heart.