Former Governor John Kitzhaber Will Not Become OHSU’s Next President

An industry ally floated Kitzhaber's candidacy, but the former governor tells search committee he's not interested.

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber has told the chairman of the Oregon Health & Science University that he will not be a candidate to replace OHSU president Dr. Joe Robertson, who is retiring.

Last month, DJ Wilson, a healthcare conference organizer who has worked closely with Kitzhaber, wrote a blog post proposing Kitzhaber for the OHSU job.

Related: healthcare consultant floats trial balloon proposing John Kitzhaber as OHSU's next president

That made sense in a way: Kitzhaber, a former emergency room physician who trained at OHSU, has established himself over the past three decades, while Senate president and governor, as a leading thinker on healthcare policy. The downside: Kitzhaber's return to the governor's office from 2011 to 2015 ended in his resignation in February 2015 under pressure from influence-peddling allegations involving first lady Cylvia Hayes.

On Friday, the Lund Report, a healthcare industry newsletter, first reported that Kitzhaber had proactively removed himself from consideration.

Yaden told the Lund Report the search committee hopes to name a new president by July.

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