John Crawford and Jody Stahancyk have donated $250,000 to the Columbia Memorial Hospital expansion project.

Jody Stahancyk and John Crawford have donated $250,000 to Columbia Memorial Hospital’s expansion project, citing the importance of sustaining local health care options and demonstrating support for the community.

The couple permanently relocated to Clatsop County during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. A short time later, Crawford was diagnosed with cancer. Initially, the pair worried about having to move back to Portland, but through Columbia Memorial’s cancer center, Crawford was able to undergo treatment in Astoria.

“He, as a result of the fine treatment that he received, is now cancer-free,” Stahancyk said. “And because of new protocols, he didn’t have to have any surgery. And so that caused us to begin thinking about how important it was to have regional care.”

Stahancyk and Crawford are both attorneys. Stahancyk is the president of law firm Stahancyk, Kent & Hook, which is based in Portland with an office in Astoria. She also serves on the board of Clatsop Community College.

As newer residents of the North Coast, Stahancyk and Crawford also feel that it’s important to demonstrate commitment to the community through financial support when possible.

“I was interested in making sort of a statement that we are here and living in this community and that we’re committed to it,” Stahancyk said.

Stahancyk and Crawford’s gift will name the surgical waiting area in the hospital’s expanded facility and finance a nook for coffee, tea and water for use by family members waiting for their loved ones. They emphasized that having their names attached to the waiting area was not the motivation for the gift, but rather a demonstration of their commitment.

Mark Kujala, the director of the Columbia Memorial Hospital Foundation, said the hospital is grateful for the gift. “Jody and John are patients of CMH,” he said in a statement. “We are glad the care they’ve received here has made such an impact on them, and we know their gift will make an impact on generations to come when the expanded hospital opens.”

The hospital’s $175 million expansion will involve construction of a new facility — estimated at 180,000 square feet — and a remodel of the existing building off Exchange Street. In addition to upgrading patient spaces, a big emphasis of the project is resiliency.

The new four-story structure, designed to withstand natural disasters, will feature a safe refuge area on the third floor that could house 1,900 people in an emergency.

Stahancyk said she hopes the gift will inspire others to contribute to the hospital’s project, as well.

“I would encourage everyone to give whatever they can, because good health care in a community really means the difference between livability and needing to leave,” she said.