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Gov. Tina Kotek announced late Friday a shakeup in the leadership of Oregon State Hospital as that facility deals with the fallout from a patient death in March.
In a statement released shortly before 9 pm Friday, Kotek revealed that she had accepted the resignation of the hospital’s chief medical officer and interim superintendent, Dr. Sara Walker. The governor said that she instructed Oregon Health Authority director Kristine Krautz to place a longtime senior OHA official atop the locked psychiatric hospital in Walker’s place.
“Today, I directed acting director Kautz to make Dave Baden acting superintendent of the Oregon State Hospital after learning more details around a recent fatality. I have also directed the agency to make a 30-day plan to address issues related to patient care and safety, effective immediately,” Kotek said. “Patients and their families deserve a hospital that meets the highest possible standard of care.”
Kotek’s office said she was making the change after receiving new information about a patient death and “in the interest of patient safety.” (OHA director Dr. Sejal Hathi is on maternity leave.)
As The Oregonian reported earlier, a patient died in March after he fell and hospital staff apparently failed to provide timely care.
The Oregon Health Authority, which is responsible for the 700-bed Salem hospital, subsequently disclosed that 21 patients have died at the hospital since 2020, some of them from natural causes but nine of them unexpectedly.
The locked psychiatric hospital, which has been the subject of nearly continuous litigation due to the difficulty of placing patients there, has also generated widespread safety complaints from staff. Willamette Week examined the deep dysfunction of the hospital in 2023.
Federal regulators have criticized the hospital for its patient care, as WW has reported, imperiling accreditation and funding.
Kotek said her office is working with OHA and hospital officials to create a new safety plan.
“The Oregon Health Authority shares the governor’s concerns and urgency regarding this matter and are resolved to do everything in our power to improve patient safety at OSH,” Baden, the new hospital superintendent, said.