{"id":708948,"date":"2026-06-17T05:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/708948\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T05:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:50:10","slug":"ohsu-sues-opb-seeking-to-withhold-records-about-fired-executive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/708948\/","title":{"rendered":"OHSU sues OPB, seeking to withhold records about fired executive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oregon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – A photo of healthcare executive Tarek Salaway. He was fired after four months as CEO of OHSU Health.<\/p>\n

courtesy of OHSU<\/p>\n

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<\/a> after raising concerns about patient safety. <\/p>\n

The Multnomah County District Attorney\u2019s Office this month ordered OHSU to turn over an investigation it conducted of Salaway, but the healthcare giant is suing to fight that order. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d Adam Gibbs, general counsel for the district attorney\u2019s office, wrote in the order. \u201cOHSU is among the largest public institutions in Oregon, and its health system\u2019s leadership is a matter of genuine public consequence.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the lawsuit<\/a>, OHSU states the records contain \u201csensitive health information protected by federal law,\u201d though the complaint does not include additional details.<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus, where the OHSU and Doernbecher Emergency Room is, sits on Marquam Hill in Portland, Ore., on April 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

Eli Imadali \/ OPB<\/p>\n

OHSU did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the litigation, but in its lawsuit, it argues the records should remain confidential.<\/p>\n

OPB first sought the records after OHSU, which is a public university and hospital system, provided Willamette Week<\/a> with witness statements from its investigation into Salaway \u2013 but not a full investigative file. After that article was published, OPB requested and received those same documents and also filed a public records request for the full investigative file.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Salaway was the former OHSU Health CEO, he had a brief tenure of less than four months, and was terminated for professional and communication concerns, not for serious misconduct,\u201d OHSU\u2019s lawsuit states, arguing that public interest does not trump \u201cOHSU\u2019s confidentiality interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a press release on Tuesday, OPB referred to OHSU\u2019s legal challenge as a \u201crare\u201d and \u201cretaliatory lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOPB will not be intimidated in our pursuit of information on behalf of the communities we serve,\u201d Rachel Smolkin, OPB\u2019s president and CEO, said in the statement. \u201cWe will continue to report on this story, and we appreciate the DA\u2019s diligent order and strong acknowledgement of the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: OHSU grapples with falling rank on patient safety measures<\/a><\/p>\n

When OHSU announced Salaway\u2019s hiring in November, the institution said he had a track record<\/a> of working in \u201cclose partnership with clinicians and staff, to advance high-value clinical programs and ensure exceptional care and services to the patients and communities served.\u201d<\/p>\n

The witness statements OHSU agreed to release after firing Salaway portray him as trying to improve care, but said he could also be \u201ccondescending and arrogant, quick to cast aspersions on matters he still didn\u2019t know much about,\u201c according to a summary by Willamette Week<\/a>. The newspaper also reported \u201cat one point said he would cut someone across the throat, before laughing in a \u2018maniacal\u2019 manner.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – A provided photo of Shereef Elnahal, M.D., M.B.A., released after he was appointed as OHSU\u2019s sixth president. <\/p>\n

Courtesy of OHSU<\/p>\n

OPB health reporter Amelia Templeton asked OHSU for more documents about Salaway\u2019s tenure, including an investigative file and a \u201cfull 360 review\u201d \u2013 a type of performance review. OHSU is a state-run healthcare provider, and Templeton made the request under the process outlined by Oregon\u2019s public records law.<\/a><\/p>\n

The health provider rejected Templeton\u2019s request for the full investigation. OHSU cited an exemption under Oregon\u2019s public records law, which allows for documents about \u201cpersonnel discipline action, or materials or documents supporting that action\u201d to be withheld from the public.<\/p>\n

OHSU President Shereef Elnahal declined to comment on Salaway\u2019s firing during a news conference in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has chosen to put his perspective in the press; we are not doing that,\u201d Elnahal said, referencing Salaway\u2019s concerns about patient safety. \u201cWhat I will say is I have not seen any evidence that new concerns have been raised by anybody since I\u2019ve been here on patient safety and quality that aren\u2019t being taken seriously and aren\u2019t being addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

OPB petitioned the Multnomah County District Attorney\u2019s Office over OHSU\u2019s refusal to release the records. <\/p>\n

On June 2, Gibbs said there is a strong public interest \u201cin understanding how and why OHSU\u2019s president concluded that its newly hired hospital chief executive could not continue in the role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibbs said OHSU cited an outdated legal test when it withheld the records about Salaway. The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled public bodies must presume records are disclosable, he said, and they need to make a strong case to overcome that presumption.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s office ordered OHSU to release the records. OHSU is suing to stop the release. Instead, it has sued to challenge the release. Now, a state court judge will decide.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article was written and reported by OPB\u2019s Conrad Wilson and edited by OPB\u2019s Courtney Sherwood and News Director Gillian Flaccus. No OPB executive reviewed this story before it was published. <\/p>\n

The last paragraph of this story has been updated to provide more context about OHSU\u2019s legal challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oregon\u2019s flagship research hospital and medical school on Tuesday sued Oregon Public Broadcasting to prevent the release of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,305921,252,253],"class_list":["post-708948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-law-and-justice-accountability","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}