Englund family donates $100,000 to expansion
Contact: Sarah Bello
Donation a continuation of longtime support for hospital
Jon Englund was born at Columbia Hospital, and when the family welcomed son, Kurt, he was born there, as well.
The family has a long history in Astoria and founded Englund Marine & Industrial Supply more than 80 years ago. The business has steadily grown locally and throughout the Western United States and currently employs more than 150 people.
As business owners, they say it’s important for them to be located in an area with good health care available. 
“At my age, you don’t drive in the dark anymore,” Englund Marine CEO Jon says. “So having a hospital here where you can reach your appointments and get your medical needs taken care of is huge.”
The Englunds say the CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative is a good example of care that CMH now provides locally for the benefit of the region. Opened in 2017, the Cancer Collaborative has saved patients thousands of dollars in drives to Portland, Longview and other service areas to get cancer treatment.
“Traditionally, [finding] quality health care in rural areas has been a challenge,” says Kurt, company president. “Years ago, CMH made a choice to strategically take on those challenges to provide better care in our area. As care has improved, we feel the investment in the new expansion will only continue that trend and will provide the best health care available for our local community.”
The Englunds have supported the hospital for years. Jon served on the Board of Trustees for some time, and Kurt was on the CMH Foundation’s Board for about nine years. The family has generously donated $100,000 toward the BuildCMH Expansion Project, saying it’s an investment in local health services.
“I think it’s just important to have good health care. You never know when you’re going to need it or who’s going to need it,” Kurt explains. “I think with regard to this new project, making sure that the hospital is state-of-the-art, it’s going to attract the best talent, you know from recruiting doctors and all the staff in between ... It’ll boost the level of service and quality of service for this whole area, not just for our employees but for the whole community.”
Find out more about the BuildCMH Expansion Project at www.columbiamemorial.org/buildcmh.