By Pepper Fisher

SEQUIM – An unprecedented donation from a Foundation that has Sequim ties will allow Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles to purchase a state of the art CT scanner that hospital CEO Darryl Wolfe describes as a game changer for patient care on the north Olympic Peninsula.

The $400,000 donation from the Elizabeth B. McGraw Foundation, headed by Lee McGraw, formerly of Sequim, was announced at the OMC Commissioner’s meeting Wednesday.

OMC Foundation President Bruce Skinner says McGraw’s gift comes with an even more generous matching pledge.

“It’s the largest donation ever from a single donor, and they’re also offering $200,000 extra in the way of a match gift. So, we’re able to go out and raise another 200,000, which we think we will, they’ll match it. So, the gift is one of those that starts with 400,000, and it can end up being 800,000 or more.”

CT scanners produce detailed images of our internal organs, blood vessels and bones, and are used to diagnose injuries, problems with blood flow, stroke, and cancer.

“The great thing about it is, were purchasing a piece of equipment that will save lives. And the best thing about this, what we really like, is now if you need a CAT scan from these particular machines, you have to go off the peninsula. But now, we’re going to be able to offer it here and save people the time that it takes to travel to Seattle or other medical institutions.”

McGraw, a former Sequim resident who lived in Clallam County until just recently, is the great-granddaughter of James H. McGraw, who founded McGraw-Hill Inc., publisher of generations of school textbooks and now a global leader in educational content and digital platforms. The company was purchased by Platinum Equity last year for $4.5 billion.

Lee McGraw’s grandmother is the late Elizabeth B. McGraw. In a statement to the OMC Foundation, McGraw said, “We’ve always supported healthcare wherever we have lived. My husband and I moved back to the Boston area to be with family, but we plan on returning – we love Sequim and the Pacific Northwest.”