Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University has named Tarek Salaway as the next executive vice president and CEO of the health system, effective Dec. 15.
Five things to know:
1. Mr. Salaway joins OHSU from Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, where he served as senior vice president of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in California. There, he led strategy, operations and community partnerships for the Marin Sonoma and Golden Gate service areas, which include three medical centers and several hundred thousand members.
2. He succeeds Tim Goldfarb, president of The Foundation for Medical Excellence, who has served as interim CEO since January. Ann Madden Rice briefly held the interim CEO role for five weeks before Mr. Goldfarb stepped in. John Hunter, MD, stepped down as CEO in June 2024, with COO Joe Ness temporarily filling the position until Ms. Rice’s appointment in December.
3. Before joining Kaiser, Mr. Salaway was CEO of Providence Mission Hospital, a 523-bed tertiary and trauma center with campuses in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach, Calif. He also previously served as COO for Keck Medical Center of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, helping drive its transformation into a major academic medical center. Earlier in his career, he led cardiovascular and neuroscience services at Stanford Health Care and held multiple leadership roles with Renton, Wash.-based Providence.
4. Mr. Salaway holds three master’s degrees — in healthcare administration, public health and international relations — from the University of Washington in Seattle.
5. In May, OHSU and Portland-based Legacy Health called off plans to merge into a combined organization. The merger would have created a 12-hospital system with more than 32,000 employees and been one of Oregon’s largest service providers to Medicaid members.
“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,” Mr. Salaway said in a news release.
