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When you run a state government agency, it’s never a good look to claim ignorance of a scandal that erupted under your watch.
Especially when records prove that you knew about it.
Dr. Sejal Hathi did the right thing last week by announcing her resignation as Oregon Health Authority director. It came two weeks after a disastrous performance in front of a state legislative panel, where her only responses to questions from lawmakers probing patient deaths at the Oregon State Hospital were: “It’s confusing to all of us” and “I don’t want to speculate.”
Over the last year and a half, reporting by Lookout Eugene-Springfield has chronicled the failures at the state psychiatric hospital in Salem that have contributed to five unexpected patient deaths there since November 2023. They include two deaths of patients who were held in seclusion rooms for extended periods without proper oversight, including a 25-year-old Lane County man who died in March 2025.
The timing is important here. Hathi came on as health authority director in January 2024, two months after the first of the five deaths. And she claimed ignorance to state lawmakers about the reasons for the hospital’s overreliance on seclusion rooms more than a year and a half after she and other state hospital executives received a consultant’s summary that found it was keeping patients in seclusion for “days and weeks” without justification.
This editorial board already called Hathi’s responses to lawmakers’ questions unacceptable. Her departure means the state will soon have a new Oregon State Hospital superintendent to run its day-to-day operations, under the leadership of a new Oregon Health Authority director tasked with overseeing the hospital and all behavioral health services in the state.
While Hathi’s successor will face a big challenge, the first quality we think the governor should look for is curiosity. The state needs an experienced leader who really understands the gravity of the issue and the need to begin solving it quickly, one who will not hide behind bureaucracy. One who is more open than the current administrators to share honestly with the public both the problems and the solutions.
State lawmakers must continue holding health authority leaders’ feet to the fire, asking the kinds of probing questions about who knew what when — questions standard legislative oversight calls for.
A good place to start would be a follow-up to last November’s legislative hearing, where health authority officials pledged to improve the culture at the state hospital. What changes have been made since that hearing, and what are the results of those changes?
We’re also intrigued by Rep. Hai Pham’s pledge to explore a bill in the 2027 legislative session that would establish accountability measures for patients. Pham, a Hillsboro Democrat, is chair of the Oregon House Interim Committee on Behavioral Health. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the findings of a working group Pham has pledged to convene to shape potential legislation.
And Gov. Tina Kotek must go beyond merely replacing agency heads when they fail to rise to the challenges of their jobs. She must personally take a more active role in ensuring that the safety problems and poor management at the state’s main psychiatric hospital are truly behind it. Whether that means convening a task force to investigate the breakdowns in patient care, or encouraging lawmakers to pass legislation in next year’s session, she can use the power of her office to push for accountability in ways she hasn’t done so far.
As much as Hathi hoped the health authority could avoid difficult questions about the past and focus on the future, that’s not what accountability looks like. It will be up to Kotek and the next health authority director to show the families of patients under state psychiatric supervision that the state grasps the severity of the problem.
Their choices in the coming months will show if they’re committed to meaningful reform, or merely hoping problems don’t repeat themselves.
