Oregon’s flagship research hospital and medical school on Tuesday sued Oregon Public Broadcasting to prevent the release of records about its firing of a prominent executive four months into his job.
That executive, OHSU Health CEO Tarek Salaway, was fired on April 3. OHSU said little to explain his firing at the time. Salaway said publicly that he was pushed out after raising concerns about patient safety.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office this month ordered OHSU to turn over an investigation it conducted of Salaway, but the healthcare giant is suing to fight that order.
“It is difficult to conceive of a stronger case for the public interest than the removal, by the institution, of the chief executive of OHSU Health after less than four months,” Adam Gibbs, general counsel for the district attorney’s office, wrote in the order. “OHSU is among the largest public institutions in Oregon, and its health system’s leadership is a matter of genuine public consequence.”…