Top OHSU Lawyer Is Retiring

Alice Cuprill Comas, general counsel for nearly a decade at Oregon Health & Science University, is retiring.

The vacancy at one of the major medical center’s key leadership positions becomes effective essentially immediately. Comas’ retirement, which was announced internally Friday, was also effective Friday, according to a message sent to the OHSU community by university president Shereef Elnahal, which was reviewed by WW.

The note included a statement by Comas, who spoke fondly of OHSU and said she was turning her attention to an ailing parent and other forms of service. And OHSU leaders, including Elnahal and board chair Susan King, thanked her for her years of contributions to the school.

“Her accomplishments will be felt by all who benefit from our mission for many years to come,” Elnahal’s statement said, “and I wish her the absolute best on her next endeavors.”

Comas will be replaced on a temporary basis by lawyer Katherine Lauer, whom Elnahal described as a “multifaceted leader with nearly four decades of experience in law, health care and corporate governance.” Elnahal said a committee would be formed to conduct a national search for a permanent replacement.

Comas occupied a key leadership position at OHSU, which, on a roughly $7 billion annual budget—a notch smaller than the city of Portland’s—is the city’s largest employer and arguably the most important health care institution in Oregon. Comas served as chief legal counsel to the OHSU board, its president, and other executives.

She served under four OHSU presidents during a period of substantial turmoil for the institution. She arrived at OHSU in 2012, became general counsel in 2017, and has had plenty of legal matters to ponder since then. She noted in her statement having helped shepherd the $2 billion Knight Canter Institute gift announced a year ago.

In other cases, the OHSU legal department took a notably hard-nosed approach. After OHSU publicly embraced a report calling it to task for how it handled reports of sexual misconduct, for example, the school’s legal filings sought to undermine that report. More recently, OHSU sued Oregon Public Broadcasting to prevent the airing of internal records tied to the firing of its health system CEO—a saga first covered by WW.

The OHSU media team did not immediately respond to questions about Comas’ compensation and exit package.