Medical Director and Physician Will Head the Office of Medical Assistance Programs

Allen Douma, M.D. will head the state office that operates the Medicaid portion of the Oregon Health Plan Photo Courtesy: DHS

(SALEM) - A noted health care leader -- with more than 30 years of professional health care management experience -- was named Wednesday to direct the state Medicaid office in the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS Director Bruce Goldberg says 60-year old Allen Douma, M.D. of Ashland, will begin the job June 1st, heading the Office of Medical Assistance Programs that operates the Medicaid portion of the Oregon Health Plan. The Medicaid Portion is responsible for meeting the health care needs of the state's most vulnerable population. Douma's professional experiences include medical director of The Hartford Insurance Company; medical director of The Travelers Insurance Company; and co-founder and medical director of a company that provided telephone-based support services to help health plan members make informed medical decisions. "The state of Oregon is very fortunate to have someone of Dr. Douma's management background and extensive health care experience lead the Office of Medical Assistance Programs," said Goldberg. "His leadership and vision for the Oregon Health Plan will be key in grappling with the critical health care issues facing thousands of Oregonians statewide, who rely on these services daily."

Most recently Douma has been a health communication developer, writer and consultant, co-founding an online health communications company with his wife, Elin Silveous, that built and ran the health channel for America Online and iVillage. He also acted as a consultant to the national AARP's state advocacy department. He was the author of the syndicated column "Ask the Family Doctor" which has appeared in newspapers across the country for the past eight years. In southern Oregon, Douma is chairman of the Jefferson Regional Health Alliance and serves as a member of the Ashland Planning Commission. Douma is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and a bachelor's degree in engineering science from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his medical internship in Portland in the mid-1970s and began his career practicing medicine as a general practitioner in rural North Dakota.

Douma replaces acting director Lynn Read, who will continue with OMAP as deputy director.