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After a nearly two-year search, including a rocky period in which an interim leader was hired and lasted just a few weeks, the OHSU Health system has named a new CEO.
Tarek Salaway has worked as an executive in an array of California health institutions, and comes most recently from a Kaiser Permanente system in the San Francisco Bay area.
“With 28 years of leadership experience across diverse health care systems in major west coast markets, Mr. Salaway brings a strong record of developing and executing a broad range of strategic initiatives, in close partnership with clinicians and staff, to advance high-value clinical programs and ensure exceptional care and services to the patients and communities served,” OHSU President Shereef Elnahal said in a note to staff and community members Monday.
A major division of Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU Health runs the university’s hospitals and clinics. The search for a new health system leader began in early 2024, when longtime CEO John Hunter said he would step down.
Hunter departed in June that year. Joe Ness, the health system’s COO, took on the role in an interim capacity until late 2024, when OHSU announced a new interim hire, Ann Madden Rice.
But Rice ended up leaving five weeks later. The next day, OHSU appointed Tim Goldfarb—who’d run OHSU Health decades prior—to come out of retirement to take the OHSU Health interim CEO position.
Elnahal said Salaway’s hire is the product of an extensive national search.
Salaway’s first day at OHSU Health is set for Dec. 15.
“It is a privilege to join the outstanding leadership team at OHSU Health at a time of excitement, transformation and a deep sense of commitment to the communities we serve across Oregon,” he said in a written statement.
