Dr. Ryan Bell, acting interim chief medical officer at the Oregon State Hospital, abruptly announced his resignation today, the latest in a slew of leadership changes at the state’s troubled psychiatric facility.
“It is clear that [the Oregon Health Authority] and I have come to a natural stopping place. Their leadership has strategies and plans, and, since I cannot give these my complete support, they deserve to work with someone whose views, temperament, and approach more closely resembles their own,” Bell wrote in his resignation email, obtained by The Lund Report through a public records request.
Requests for comments from Bell and the Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the state hospital, were not immediately returned at the time of this publication.
Bell wrote that his last day will be July 31. In the subject line Bell wrote, “My bags are packed.”
Bell, the hospital’s chief of psychiatry, was named to the position in May. That’s when state health officials named hospital strategist Jim Diegel, former president and CEO of the Redmond-based St. Charles Health System, to take over as interim superintendent of the Oregon State Hospital — the third interim to fill the spot in just over a year.
Oregon State Hospital provides psychiatric care for people, most of whom are facing criminal charges, who are deemed either a danger to themselves or others or as lacking the ability to assist in their criminal defense. Between its main facility in Salem and its Junction City campus, it has beds for nearly 750 people, and serves more than 1,500 people a year, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
In recent years the hospital has been hit with repeated findings of unsafe patient care issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The hospital is also the subject of litigation against the Oregon Health Authority because of the state’s failure to meet the demand for secure residential treatment, forcing jails and hospitals to house patients without appropriate care.
In June, Federal Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a contempt order, against the health authority in connection with a lawsuit filed by the nonprofits Disability Rights Oregon and Metropolitan Public Defenders. The order comes with fines of $500 a day for each person experiencing mental illness who spends more than a week in jail after a finding that they are not competent to stand trial. The state is appealing the ruling.
Dave Boyer, managing attorney of Disability Rights Oregon’s Mental Health Rights Project, called Bell's resignation "yet another significant change at the state hospital, and the many ongoing problems there will never be solved without true continuity of care and effective leadership … said “People with mental illness will continue to suffer until Oregon provides both.”
Prior to Bell’s appointment, the position was held by Dr. Sara Walker, who last year was tapped to be the interim superintendent in addition to being chief medical officer. Walker was asked to resign April 11 after Gov. Tina Kotek ordered the Oregon Health Authority to install new leadership at the troubled state psychiatric institution.
Kotek’s decision came after details of a March fatality at the hospital came to light — involving that of a patient who was left locked in a seclusion room without adequate observation, lost consciousness and subsequently died hours after being admitted. More recently allegations came to light that Walker had been dismissive of safety concerns raised by staff.
The Oregon Health Authority replaced Walker with one of its top managers, Deputy Director Dave Baden, prior to naming Diegel as interim superintendent.
Meanwhile, the ongoing national search for a permanent superintendent continues. The hospital hasn’t had a permanent superintendent since Dolly Matteucci resigned in March 2024. Two formal recruitment processes have failed in that time.