A little help from your friends: academic partnerships help build capacity in Astoria, Oregon
In Astoria, Oregon, Columbia Memorial Hospital expanded rural capacity through partnership rather than acquisition. Chris Laman explains how collaboration with OHSU, academic affiliation for community providers, specialty growth, and train-your-own allied health pipelines helped the hospital grow while staying rooted in the community.
Episode Summary
This episode explores how Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon built rural capacity through academic partnership and local workforce development. Christopher Laman describes Astoria's coastal economy, CMH's role as a 25-bed critical access hospital, and the hospital's collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University. Rather than merging or being acquired, CMH created a model where providers could hold OHSU faculty or clinical associate status while practicing in the local community. That partnership helped expand specialty access and grow the provider base. Laman also discusses the allied health workforce challenge, including medical assistants, sterile processing technicians, pharmacy technicians, and the train-your-own programs CMH developed with community partners during and after COVID-era licensing flexibility.
About the Guest
Christopher Laman, PharmD, MBA
Vice President of Strategy, Columbia Memorial Hospital
Christopher Laman, PharmD, MBA, is Vice President of Strategy at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. He has worked at CMH since 2006, beginning as a staff pharmacist before moving into pharmacy leadership, cancer center services, and system strategy. His work includes rural growth strategy, community health needs assessment, academic partnership development, specialty access, and allied health workforce pipelines.