Childhood Sweethearts’ Legacy Gift Benefits Pediatric Emergency Services

Philip and Carolyn McGrath met in Queens at St. Brigid’s Elementary School in 1937 and remained a loving and devoted couple for 73 years. The McGrath’s were deeply devoted and caring people who touched the lives of many in wondrous ways. Although they had no children of their own, children’s causes were of utmost importance to them—and their final bequest is illustrative of that.

In August 2013, Mather Hospital received a gift of $410,000 from the estates of Philip and Carolyn McGrath and has used that generosity to further their desire to help children. The Emergency Department was renovated to create a pediatric fast-track unit to better treat and care for the children in our community. Updates include new equipment and treatment rooms along with two murals painted by artist Melissa Hin of the Brookhaven Arts Council.

In addition, the gift funded the purchase of a SimJunior, a computer controlled pediatric simulator, for staff training. It can be programmed to imitate a wide-range of conditions from a healthy, talking child to an unresponsive, critically ill patient in minutes—allowing Mather’s Emergency Department staff to gain the practical experience needed to treat life-threatening pediatric problems.

To date, their gift has been instrumental in successfully training more than 100 staff members and in treating 16,000 pediatric patients under the age of 18.