CMH Board of Trustees welcomes new president

Published 10:39 am Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Doug Kaup began tenure in June

Columbia Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees welcomed retired Coast Guard Captain Doug Kaup in June as its newest board president.

CMH is an independent, private, not-for-profit organization with over 900 employees. Since the organization does not have shareholders, the hospital relies on a board of 15 volunteers, to protect the interests of groups. Those groups include patients and families, caregivers and community members, according to the hospital’s website.

The board is also responsible for keeping the hospital viable, and ensures it provides safe and quality healthcare. 

Kaup spent 31 years in the United States Coast Guard before retiring as a captain and helicopter pilot in 2011. In 2016, he became a trustee. 

“After I retired in 2011, about three or four years later, a couple of members approached me and said, ‘would you be interested in being on the Board of Trustees’… so I ended up accepting that,” Kaup said.

In addition to being a board member, Kaup is also on the Finance committee. He also served as a chair of the Governance committee, which supervises polices and regulations. 

After nearly a decade on the board, Kaup said it came as a surprise when the board nominated him for the role.

“I didn’t expect to be president,” Kaup said. “(But) to be honest, it was my turn. I needed to step up and take that responsibility.” 

On June 6, Kaup began his first two-year term as board president. 

A Q & A with the president

The Astorian was able to conduct a sit-down interview with Kaup a month after he started his new job. The following conversation has been gently edited.

How has your experience as a former captain in the Coast Guard helped shape your time on the board?

I was in charge of quite a few people and equipment … so it gave me a lot of good-old-fashioned leadership experience.

What got you interested in health care after 31 years in the Coast Guard?

My wife and I have had health issues, so I was familiar with the importance of good healthcare and sometimes how difficult it can be to navigate the system. So that, combined with this community, that was really really good to my family when we came here — I wanted to do something.

You’ve been part of CMH’s Board of Trustees for nearly a decade. How has the board changed over the years?

The board has been very good at adapting to new technology and new ideas. This board has really embraced, truly, strategic thinking. We started making a plan of building a new hospital, expanding our services and service lines. Our goal was to try to get people to stay here for special needs care instead of having to drive to Portland. 

We were a 400-employee organization 10 years ago, we’re over 900 (employees) now — that was due to the board and change in their focus and their direction. 

(Also), I think the board has more women on it then it did when I came on … we’re still working to make the board more representative of our community. 

What are a few challenges you foresee as board president? 

I think (one is) making sure this expansion project comes through. (Also), that we remain focused not just on the expansion project, but thinking ahead after the hospital is built. 

There could be challenges. Let’s say for instance, we expand our service lines. We will need more providers, caregivers, nurses — and if we have trouble recruiting them or items like that, that would be a challenge. 

We are expecting the new hospital to bring more patients through the door, and we’re really hoping for that. But we’re also doing our market research to make sure we are providing the right services at the highest quality. 

Getting good people to come on the board is a challenge, (too) — because younger folks don’t have the time that it takes. 

What are a few challenges the hospital may face in the future, considering the cuts to Medicaid in the newly approved federal budget bill?

We are concerned, obviously. In our line of oversight on the board, we’re apolitical, so we don’t talk politics in the meetings. 

However, the decisions that are made by the federal, state, and local elected officials affect us, so we are concerned with the Medicaid changes that are coming down the road. 

We’re concerned about the people who will lose coverage that should not lose coverage. If they don’t have insurance, they’re not going to live their healthiest lives. But the other thing is, the hospital needs patients to remain viable. It will be a challenge, there is no doubt. 

As president, what are some things you look forward to? 

The opening of the new hospital — that’s going to be a big day for Clatsop County. There’s going to be so many more service lines. The emergency department will go from 12 beds to 24 beds.

Most small rural hospitals across the state, across the country are not doing very well financially, and we are — that’s due to the people that were on the board before me. 

For the last 10 years, we have been planning and making what we thought were the right moves, which have turned out to be the right moves. We’ve expanded clinics down in Seaside.

What are some of your goals for the board and hospital?

We have a strategic plan that has really good goals set up. Our first goal is to provide the  highest quality and safest care that we can. That’s probably going to be my biggest goal. 

We want to grow health care services to meet the needs of the region. It’s important that we remain the best place to work, and that’s a goal that I work on with Erik Thorsen, chief executive officer of CMH. 

The last one: finances are always in the mix. You can’t run a hospital with all of the expenses without keeping an eye on your bottom line.

My personal goal would be to do the best job that I can. 

What is your take on Oregon’s current health care system?

It’s complicated to a certain degree. I think the State of Oregon, we have a real desire to provide great healthcare, but it’s complicated. 

There tends to be a little more regulation, I think, then possibly other states. There’s a lot of oversight and we have to deal with that. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? 

I enjoy hiking. I do a lot of it. I enjoy working out, mostly on machines. I like to try to stay fit. I like traveling with my wife… she’s my best friend.