The former CEO of OHSU Health is suing the health system for $15.5 million, alleging he was fired in retaliation for questioning roughly $3 million in proposed renovations at Hillsboro Medical Center while the hospital was losing more than $1 million a month.

Tarek Salaway filed the lawsuit Friday, Aug. 14, in Multnomah County Circuit Court, according to The Oregonian. The 26-page complaint alleges wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation and race-based discrimination against the system that operates OHSU Hospital, Hillsboro Medical Center and Adventist Health Portland.

Hillsboro Medical Center, at 335 SE 8th Ave., employs a workforce of more than 1,000 people, including more than 400 doctors and health professionals. It is one of the city's largest employers, owned and operated by Tuality Healthcare.

Four months, then out

Salaway, who describes himself as a gay, Muslim man of color, started as OHSU Health CEO on Dec. 15, 2025, after the system went nearly two years without a permanent leader. He earned $1.4 million a year and came from a senior vice president role at Kaiser Permanente in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he had spent nearly 30 years in healthcare leadership.

His tenure lasted less than four months.

According to the lawsuit, Salaway pushed executives to address more than 40 patients regularly stuck in the emergency department waiting for beds, flagged respiratory therapy problems he says had seriously harmed pediatric patients and questioned the Hillsboro Medical Center renovation spending. He also spoke up about what he viewed as discrimination against women and Black leaders at OHSU, the complaint alleges.

The incident that triggered his removal

Tensions peaked in March 2026 when Salaway reprimanded a departing executive for questioning a Black colleague's qualifications, according to the lawsuit. The next day, while discussing that executive with his assistant, Salaway says he made a hand gesture resembling a baseball umpire calling someone out.

That night, OHSU placed him on involuntary leave and launched a workplace safety investigation. Salaway says he was accused of threatening to "cut" the departing executive's throat. He denies making the threat, says his assistant never accused him of it and argues the claim came through second- and third-hand accounts that played into racial and anti-Muslim stereotypes.

The lawsuit says Salaway submitted a 19-page response on March 15, 2026, disputing the allegations and raising his own concerns about discrimination and patient safety. OHSU fired him three days later, the complaint states, saying it had lost confidence in his ability to lead.

"Lured away from a secure and satisfying career, Mr. Salaway uprooted his life in California to move to Portland to lead OHSU Health," the complaint states. "Within three months, however, he was placed on involuntary leave of absence as the beginning of a drawn-out, arbitrary and unwarranted termination process."

OHSU disputes the claims

OHSU said in a statement reported by KGW that Salaway's behavior did not fit the system's culture and values, calling the lawsuit baseless. The health system said his firing was not related to concerns about patient safety, quality or bias.

Salaway is seeking up to $13 million in economic damages, including lost earnings, and $2.5 million for emotional distress and reputational harm, plus attorney fees. He says former employers have told him the publicity surrounding his firing has made him unable to find comparable executive work.

What's next for Hillsboro Medical Center

The lawsuit lands two weeks before Amy Shlossman, a Maryland hospital executive from LifeBridge Health, is set to start as the new OHSU Health CEO on Aug. 31. She will oversee the system that includes Hillsboro Medical Center, which serves patients across Washington County.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found significant deficiencies at OHSU after Salaway's departure and required corrective action for some of the problems he says he had raised, according to the lawsuit. No trial date has been set.