They have spent the last two decades caring for their patients. Now, they’re ready to care for the whole community.
Dr. Richard Caggiano and Dr. Karen Karpman have recently donated to the Pullman Regional Hospital Patient Care Expansion project to name a trauma room in the Emergency Department. The couple has deep ties to Pullman Regional and have helped shape the hospital’s policies and procedures to what they are today, and now they are ready to take a more outward approach to patient care.
“We wanted to support the hospital’s expansion and support our community’s growth,” Dr. Caggiano shares on why the couple decided to donate. “I remember the hospital’s first trauma rooms, so it feels gratifying to contribute to that specific function.”
From 1998 to 2015, Dr. Richard Caggiano served as Director of Emergency Services before becoming the hospital’s first Chief Medical Officer, and he played a major role in designing and implementing the Emergency Department’s trauma program. In the years since his tenure, the community has grown and space in the Emergency Department has become scarce. The hospital’s effort to settle this disparity is to double the space of the Emergency Department and build larger trauma rooms to increase capacity and access. Dr. Caggiano and Dr. Karpman’s decision to donate towards naming a trauma room stems from an innate inclination towards helping the region’s most vulnerable patients, as they did years ago. “The more room there is for the patient’s care team and family, the better,” Dr. Caggiano says.
Dr. Karen Karpman has also been highly involved with Pullman Regional; she previously served on the Board of Commissioners from 2018 to 2025 and had her own psychology practice within the organization for ten years. While she was on the Board, she distinctly remembers when the bond for the Patient Care Expansion project was presented to the public and now reminisces on how important it felt to openly involve the community in the hospital’s expansion.
“The hospital staff and the people taking care of you are part of the community,” she emphasizes. “Everybody has some connection to the hospital in one way or another, and it’s absolutely something you need. When you give, you feel more appreciative and more connected to your community, and it feels good.”
The expansion of emergency trauma space aligns with the hospital and city’s efforts to increase visibility and access to mental health care. This is also exemplified by Pullman Regional integrating behavioral health services within the primary care clinics. When asked about the importance of this integration, Dr. Karpman conveys that it creates a more comprehensive approach to healthcare.
“So many people can get a referral from their physician to see a behavioral health specialist, but by the time they get an appointment, it can take so much time, and the moment of need has passed. But if a behavioral health specialist connects with them right then and there, they can feel more comfortable with receiving that care, and it takes away the stigma,” Dr. Karpman says.
Even now, years after working directly with patients, Dr. Caggiano and Dr. Karpman still show an unwavering commitment to helping people get the care they need. When asked what they wish the community would take away from their donation, the couple hopes the trauma room plaque serves as a reminder to patients that their neighbors–friends and strangers alike–stand strongly beside them on their healing journey. “I have always felt a real kinship to the hospital,” Dr. Karpman affirms. “I know what is being given is going to directly or indirectly affect patient care.”
To learn more about the Patient Care Expansion Project and how you can help, visit www.pullmanregional.org/expansion.