People who arrive at one of Multnomah County’s community health clinics to get tested for herpes or have their teeth cleaned have little idea that the clinics they visit are enmeshed in a web of tangled power struggles, which have lately spun onto the desks of lawyers.
After being fired weeks ago following an investigation into his conduct, former Multnomah County Community Health Center interim executive director Anirudh Padmala said he’d been a scapegoat in a power struggle between county staff and the health center’s oversight board, run by community members. He has now escalated those allegations. Last week, his attorney filed a notice of claims for damages against the county, accusing staffers of discriminating against their former colleague Padmala and conspiring to sabotage his work, in the process inflicting grave emotional distress and reputational harm.
This, of course, is just Padmala’s side. And among the top leadership of the Multnomah County Community Health Center—Oregon’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center—there are many, many sides…