From the Salem Statesman Journal, August 3, 2010

A doctor who planned to resign in the wake of an Oregon State Hospital death scandal is now accusing the psychiatric facility of trying to force him out and ruin his reputation.

Dr. Michael Robinson, a psychiatrist who was under internal investigation for his treatment of a patient who died in autumn, recently signaled his intent to resign on July 31.

He then changed his mind and told the hospital that he wanted to continue his career, newly released documents show.

In a July 9 letter to the hospital’s chief medical officer, Robinson asserted that his “resignation offer was made while I was under great duress from threats of adverse employment actions, and the understanding was that if I resigned, the Hospital would cease their baseless and misguided efforts to damage my reputation as a medical professional.

“The Hospital has not lived up to these expectations, and I believe it is imperative that I defend my reputation and rebut the false charges levied against me. As a result, I will not be resigning my employment and plan to continue my career with the Hospital.”

Robinson’s bid to withdraw his resignation was rejected by the hospital, documents show.

OSH Chief Medical Officer Mark Diamond stated in a July 14 letter to Robinson that July 31 would be his last day of employment.

In the letter, Diamond defended the hospital’s actions in dealing with Robinson and denied his allegations.

Hospital officials “have not set out to damage your reputation, and the actions undertaken to date have not resulted in so-called stigmatizing circumstances,” Diamond wrote. “With respect to a third-party review that is currently underway, the protocol triggering this review is the same that OSH would apply for any physician in similar circumstances.”

The hospital subsequently directed Robinson to turn in his state-issued work badge and pick up his final paycheck.

The Statesman Journal obtained the correspondence between Robinson and OSH on Monday through a public records request.

Robinson had been relieved of direct patient care in April pending results of an investigation into the treatment of patient Moises Perez.

READ – Robinson Resignation Correspondence
READ – Doctor in Moises Perez investigation claims Oregon State Hospital forced him to resign, AP.com, August 3, 2010