A 25-year-old patient who died at the Oregon State Hospital in Salem last year was subjected to years of indifferent, substandard care and long stretches of solitary confinement that were tantamount to torture, according to a new lawsuit filed by the man’s sister.
Sierra Hass, the sister of former patient Kenneth Hass, filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the Oregon State Hospital and nearly 20 individual staffers of violating her brother’s constitutional rights for years, setting the conditions that led to his March 2025 death.
The state and its employees “were deliberately indifferent to the rights held by Mr. Hass,” the lawsuit says. “The conduct by the Individual Defendants shocks the conscience given the significant opportunities to do the right thing coupled with the refusal to do so.”
A spokesperson for the state hospital, Amber Shoebridge, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation…