Thanks to a generous endowment, the legacy of Scranton’s Kathryn E. Grambs will live on

From left: CMC Board members, cardiologists and employees cut the ceremonial ribbon on CMC’s new $1.3 million cardiac catheterization laboratory. From left, Holly Zinski, radiology technician; Dr. Brian Mott, president of the CMC medical staff; Bob Steigmeyer, CMC president and CEO; Jeffrey Jacobson, CMC Board Chair; Dr. Kevin Olsen, director of the CMC cath lab and interventional cardiology; Thomas Tulaney, CMC board member; Dr. David Lohin, CMC board member; Lori May, RN, cath lab supervisor; and Melinda Ghilardi and George Ginader, CMC board members.

SCRANTON, PA – With a snip of six pairs of scissors, CMC’s new $1.3 million cardiac catheterization laboratory was officially dedicated Oct. 27 with a small ceremony and a breakfast reception on the hospital’s second floor.

Thanks to a generous endowment donated to the hospital by the late Kathryn E. Grambs and administered by Penn Security Bank & Trust, new upgrades include a total replacement of the cardiac catheterization suite equipment and the replacement of the computer system for all three cardiac catheterization laboratories.

“As a result of the wonderful gift made back in 1989, the generous legacy of Kathryn E. Grambs will enable CMC to continue to meet the needs of our patients and the community well into the future,” said CMC President and CEO Bob Steigmeyer.

Described as a very kind and charitable person, Miss Grambs was born in 1907 and died in 1989, the only child of Attorney Robert Louis and Elizabeth Falkowsky Grambs. A Hill Section resident for most of her life, Miss Grambs was a graduate of Audubon School and Scranton Central High School and majored in music and studied piano at Hood College, in Frederick, Md.

A member of many civic and benevolent organizations throughout her life, she also enjoyed gardening and photography and was an accomplished cook who loved to entertain friends.

In her later years, she developed late-onset diabetes and she often walked the short block from her home on Arthur Avenue to the hospital to have routine blood work done. According to her friends, she commented repeatedly “how nicely” she was treated by the staff at CMC. Upon her death in 1989, it was learned she named CMC as the beneficiary of a $1.4 million trust and since then, that money has been used to fund much-needed patient and hospital needs, including mammography and ultrasound suites, a 3-D vascular lab and the development of a variety of women’s services.
“Miss Grambs’ generosity will allow us to provide the standards of care that identifies CMC as a top performing hospital, setting national benchmarks to which other hospitals can aspire,” Mr. Steigmeyer added.