SALEM, Ore. – Amit Bhavan, M.D., who has led Oregon State Hospital’s efforts to improve accountability and oversight as its interim chief medical officer (CMO), has been named as permanent CMO after a competitive search and selection process. 

Bhavan has served as the hospital’s interim CMO since Aug. 1, 2025.

“Dr. Bhavan’s leadership was essential to OSH maintaining its compliance with Joint Commission and CMS,” said James A. Diegel, OSH Interim Superintendent. “His continued advocacy for clinical excellence on behalf of our patients ensures the hospital sustains its ongoing efforts to consistently provide every patient we serve with high-quality psychiatric care in a safe and therapeutic environment.”   

Bhavan has a deep commitment to the people of OSH – its patients and caregivers. He began working at the hospital in October 2020 as a unit psychiatrist and was named a supervising psychiatrist in May 2023. His experience working with OSH unit caregivers and patients ground him in his role as a hospital leader. 

“Dr. Bhavan has demonstrated through his service as interim chief medical officer the kind of steady, mission-driven leadership that OSH needs,” said Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi, M.D., MBA. “He is the right person to lead the hospital’s ongoing clinical improvement efforts and will continue to play a vital role in strengthening OSH into a consistently safe, accountable, and reliable institution.”  

Prior to joining OSH, Bhavan worked at Oregon Health & Science University as an assistant professor in psychiatry, and at Unity Center for Behavioral Health (Portland) as a child and adolescent inpatient psychiatrist. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at University of Medicine & Health Sciences – Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis, and completed a residency in adult psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry, both at Medical College of Wisconsin.  

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