(Salem, Ore. –) Dr. Sejal Hathi, director of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), has named Ashley Thirstrup the agency’s new chief of staff.
In her chief of staff role, Thirstrup will oversee critical initiatives that directly affect communities who have been disproportionately harmed by health inequities. Her responsibilities will include collaborating with agency leaders in root cause analysis, facilitating strategic planning efforts, leading agency-wide policy priorities, and driving measurable, equitable improvements in the agency’s operational structure.
In an internal announcement, Dr. Hathi said, “Ashley brings to this position enormous integrity, strategic acumen, far-reaching relationships, and a long-standing commitment to advancing health equity. She believes in people, and she knows how to get things done. Indeed, Ashley possesses that rare combination of relationship-driven leadership and a relentless drive for visible results — exactly the gifts you hope for in an agency chief of staff.”
Thirstrup has been with OHA since 2017. Most recently she has served as OHA’s Director of Government Relations, where she led OHA through two legislative sessions that produced historic investments in behavioral health services, expansions in health coverage and initiatives to increase equitable access to care.
Prior to coming to OHA, Thirstrup served as the Director of Youth and Education Services at the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), where she advanced efforts to reduce health and educational inequities in partnership with Portland’s Urban Native American and Alaskan Native community.
As chief of staff, Thirstrup also will direct OHA’s External Relations Division, which includes programs that engage communities across the state and provide services to Oregon Health Plan members, such as the Community Partner Outreach Program and the Ombuds Program.
Thirstrup begins as OHA’s chief of staff April 8.