The Charles Crane Surgery Suite

 

The Charles Crane Family Foundation

 

Charles Crane, a successful real estate investor, formed The Charles Crane Family Foundation in 1991. The son of immigrant Lithuanian parents, Mr. Crane graduated from the University of Maryland Law School and joined his brother Leon in the family real estate business that his parents began. Mr. Crane gained a reputation for being generous to his employees. He became involved in major philanthropic activities later in life before his death in 1994.

The relationship between Mr. Crane and the Sisters of Mercy began in 1992 when Mr. Crane was a patient at the then-named Mercy Hospital. In gratitude for the care he received during his hospital stay and the kindness shown to his family by the Sisters of Mercy, Mr. Crane made a gift of $250,000 through his newly formed foundation. In keeping with his generous and philanthropic nature, Mr. Crane said, “I had pleasure in earning money, but greater pleasure in giving it.”

 

Since its founding, The Crane Family Foundation has generously given more than $5.5 million to Mercy Medical Center, including donating $1.25 million toward the construction of the new Crane Surgery Suite that opened in 2016.

These operating rooms, each averaging 700 square feet, are especially equipped to handle total joint, spine and upper extremity surgeries as well as neurosurgeries. Their design is flexible enough, however, to accommodate any type of surgical specialty in the future. The Crane Operating Suite features the latest technologies, from image routing and display, ergonomic ceiling-mounted booms, flat screens and LED lighting.

The Charles Crane Family Foundation is among Mercy’s most generous benefactors. In addition to the transformational gift that led to a new surgical suite, the Crane Foundation donated $1 million toward the construction of the Mary Catherine Bunting Center and has provided many special grants to sustain and expand the hospital’s Family Violence Response Program since its inception in 2000.