QuickTake:

PeaceHealth’s decision to offer the local doctors group a two- to three-year contract comes after mounting pressure, scrutiny from elected officials and a lawsuit landed the parties in court.

2 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional comments.

PeaceHealth plans to renew its contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians after nearly three months of the local doctors group fighting to keep emergency department staffing from shifting to Georgia-based ApolloMD.

The health care network will offer Eugene Emergency Physicians a two- to three-year contract at its Cottage Grove and RiverBend locations, according to PeaceHealth spokesperson Joe Waltasti.

PeaceHealth will continue direct employment at its Florence emergency department, as it has in previous years.

The announcement came just before oral arguments that had been scheduled in federal court in Portland Wednesday, May 6, over whether PeaceHealth’s earlier plan to transition emergency department staffing to ApolloMD and a new group called Lane Emergency Physicians violated Oregon’s newly enacted corporate medicine law, Senate Bill 951.

The dispute included a request-for-proposals process launched last year to replace Eugene Emergency Physicians after decades staffing the hospitals’ emergency departments.

In an internal email to employees, Heather Wall, PeaceHealth’s interim chief executive for the Oregon region, acknowledged the organization needs to rebuild trust with staff.

“I know this has been a difficult and, at times, deeply frustrating period,” Wall said in the Wednesday email, obtained by Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “I understand that for many, this is not just about a contract or a process — it is about trust, how decisions are made, and what is best for not only our workforce, but most importantly, the patients and communities we serve.”

Wall said PeaceHealth made the decision to “reset” its approach based on what the organization has heard and learned.

“We have been reengaging with Eugene Emergency Physicians and taking intentional, deliberate steps to work collaboratively,” Wall said in the memo. “Together, we want to define a path forward for our Emergency Departments that best serves our patients and our communities.”

A written agreement between PeaceHealth and Eugene Emergency Physicians was drafted hours before U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai was scheduled to hear arguments from the parties’ attorneys Wednesday in a lawsuit Eugene Emergency Physicians filed over the transition.

The ongoing hearing regards Eugene Emergency Physicians’ request for a preliminary injunction to block the emergency department staffing transition.

Attorneys said service details are still being negotiated for the new contract, and it could take weeks for details of the terms to come together. 

Meanwhile, Kasubhai plans to continue presiding over the case for the next two weeks until the final agreement is signed. At that time, he will decide whether an opinion is needed, he said. 

Whether or not he issues a final opinion, Kasubhai said he has a responsibility to wrap up matters neatly as the record has become a matter of precedent. 

“You dragged me into this. And now we are going through it together,” he said.

Dr. Dan McGee, plaintiff and member of Eugene Emergency Physicians who testified during the hearings, told Lookout during a court recess he is excited to move forward. 

“It’s been a long three months,” McGee said. “It’s been life-changing for most of us. I feel that I’m very proud of Eugene Emergency Physicians for standing up against corporate medicine.”

Dr. Brad Anderson, Eugene Emergency Physicians president, signed the current four-page agreement with PeaceHealth. His group has lost a couple of doctors over the last few months due to the “uncertainty,” he said, and the group will work to find replacements. 

Anderson said that he is hopeful that their relationship with PeaceHealth will be stronger as they go forward, citing “some of the leadership changes that they’ve made.” 

The legal fight has unfolded alongside a broader controversy surrounding Dr. Jim McGovern, PeaceHealth’s former chief hospital executive for the Oregon network, who announced the transition in February.

McGovern was later placed on leave amid allegations he acted outside the scope of his medical license and inserted himself into patient care decisions. Physicians at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend have filed a separate complaint against him with the Oregon Medical Board. 

Before PeaceHealth’s reversal Wednesday, the ApolloMD transition was nearing, with a July 1 transition date for the emergency department at RiverBend, and a June 1 start for ERs in PeaceHealth’s Cottage Grove and Florence hospitals.

Ashli Blow brings 12 years of experience in journalism and science writing, focusing on the intersection of issues that impact everyone connected to the land — whether private or public, developed or forested.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.