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To my fellow Lane County residents:
I want to start by sharing a little of my career background and why the decision by PeaceHealth to not renew our contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians and proceed with ApolloMD matters so deeply to me. I trained and practiced as a hospitalist and gradually transitioned into leadership roles over the last 25 years. Throughout my career, I have focused on patient safety, quality, care-delivery improvement and connecting care across communities.
Since my first day at PeaceHealth almost seven years ago, I have been passionate about expanding access to reliable, high-quality care for our community. I approach my work with a clear conviction: PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend is a vital asset to our region, and its success is essential.
Recently, the Oregon leadership team, including Dr. Kim Ruscher and myself, made a decision regarding the management of physicians in our local emergency departments. After a thorough, competitive and lengthy process that included submissions from several applicants, including Eugene Emergency Physicians, we determined that ApolloMD is the best partner to meet the future needs for emergency care in our communities.
The RiverBend emergency department is a high-volume, complex place. Absolutely, the 2023 closure of the University District emergency department has contributed to that increased volume. We fully acknowledge that. University District was losing $24 million per year at a time when PeaceHealth’s net cash flow during fiscal years 2022 and 2023 totaled a negative $600 million. This wasn’t a sustainable model. While difficult, this decision and many others were necessary to ensure the long-term viability of health care in Eugene and Springfield.
The emergency department at RiverBend has gone from approximately 55,000 visits per year in fiscal year 2024 to more than 80,000 today.
To address these challenges, over the past two years PeaceHealth has substantially invested in improving emergency care access and capacity for our community, including:
- Opening 23 additional beds at RiverBend in the last six months with plans underway for additional increased capacity.
- Investing in local nursing programs along with recruitment and retention initiatives and are nearly fully staffed in the emergency department.
- Adding 205 hours of new daily shifts to the emergency department.
- Hiring an additional 27 new roles to support the emergency department in delivering care.
- Adding 20 additional care spaces in the emergency department.
- Converting offices and other spaces to areas where we can deliver care appropriate to those spaces, maximizing every inch of our current footprint.
- Meeting weekly for the last several years with Eugene Emergency Physicians, frontline nurses and other staff on improvements in the emergency department.
- Starting a $6 million renovation project in the emergency department later this month.
All told, more than $25 million has been invested in additional beds, renovations and staffing to improve emergency care at a time when health care finances continue to be under strain.
As we evaluated what RiverBend’s emergency department needed from its physician partners going forward, several things stood out. Experience with busy, high-volume, highly complex emergency departments will help us improve our flows, introduce best practices and, ultimately, improve access to timely, high-quality care for our patients. ApolloMD brings that experience. The ability to rapidly improve processes and, importantly, communicate changes and ensure widespread adoption is critical. ApolloMD brings that capability.
Similar to our other national partners, ApolloMD physicians and leaders will be part of our PeaceHealth family and community. Our current nationally employed partners live our values, reside in our community and are indistinguishable from “us” because they are us. ApolloMD shares this goal and value, and we hope that some of the current physicians hear them out and choose to stay. In addition to expertise in managing complex emergency departments and an ability to develop and reliably implement change, and a shared goal to be local, ApolloMD brings national resources and established programs to further strengthen the performance of the RiverBend emergency department.
To put it bluntly, Eugene Emergency Physicians leadership fully participated in a competitive process and didn’t earn the contract. We determined that ApolloMD was the more well-rounded and qualified partner, as demonstrated in their responses in the request for proposals. Since the announcement on Feb. 3, some have argued that legacy should substitute for demonstrated capability and have engaged in a pressure campaign intended to reverse the decision.
I, along with Dr. Ruscher, the chief medical officer for PeaceHealth in Oregon, have spent many hours listening to the medical staff. We have heard the concerns, and we share some of them. We are working with the medical staff to ensure the transition maintains the quality of care and workflows our medical staff, patients and community expect and deserve.
We also have read countless emails from community members. We understand your concerns. We are committed to high-quality care delivered in a way that continues to improve access for all who need it.
We feel the pressure surrounding this decision. However, allowing pressure and emotion, rather than thoughtful, deliberate judgment, to drive decisions of this magnitude is not good leadership and does not serve our community well.
We have listened, we have heard and we have carefully considered the concerns that have been raised. We remain steadfast in our decision that ApolloMD is the best partner for the future of emergency care in our communities. Our focus now turns to ensuring a smooth transition that protects access to emergency services for you and all who depend on us.
