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PeaceHealth executives are consistent on one point about their decision to end the long-running contract with a local emergency department physician group.
They think Atlanta-based ApolloMD will do a better job than Eugene Emergency Physicians in addressing long wait times in the Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend emergency department.
But as for why that’s the case? On this point, PeaceHealth has been clear as mud.
In response to public outcry following the Feb. 3 announcement they would drop Eugene Emergency Physicians, known as EEP, PeaceHealth Oregon Chief Hospital Executive Dr. Jim McGovern cited ApolloMD’s “experience with busy, high-volume, highly complex emergency departments” and the need at RiverBend to “improve our flows, introduce best practices and, ultimately, improve access to timely, high-quality care for our patients.”
Pressed more recently by Lookout Eugene-Springfield about the change, he emphasized ApolloMD’s ability to improve emergency department processes, but didn’t identify which processes at RiverBend need fixing, arguing that ApolloMD would figure it out.
Perhaps. But two things are important here. First, emergency department visits and wait times at RiverBend spiked following the 2024 closure of PeaceHealth’s University District emergency department. That decision, while arguably a financial necessity for PeaceHealth, had nothing to do with EEP.
Second, neither McGovern nor PeaceHealth Oregon Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kim Ruscher offered any explanation for why they feel EEP isn’t up to the task of staffing RiverBend — other than to say that they’ve evaluated EEP as a management company and think ApolloMD will do a better job.
The public deserves a better explanation.
Certainly, PeaceHealth isn’t legally required to give one. Even though they’re a nonprofit organization, they are still a private company. And yet, PeaceHealth serves Lane County in a unique way. If someone in Eugene or Springfield — or just about anywhere in the county — suffers a heart attack or severe injury, they’re likely going to RiverBend.
Hospital executives repeatedly denied the switch from EEP to ApolloMD is a business decision or driven by cost-cutting. But without more details, it’s hard not to view the change in the context of other moves PeaceHealth has made to reduce expenses lately.
The Vancouver, Washington-based health care system instituted multiple rounds of layoffs during the past year, including about 162 positions in May, 18 in September, 241 in October and about 150 last month.
In a pair of press releases last fall, PeaceHealth announced the hiring of a new chief transformation and integration officer and the creation of a new position, president of strategy and business value, part of what the health system calls a three-year “transformation strategy.”
We won’t criticize PeaceHealth for working to shore up its finances. And RiverBend is far from the only hospital struggling to manage costs, both in Oregon and across the country. But serving the community requires getting the community on board with what’s happening, especially with a big change like this.
We’re not asking PeaceHealth to throw open their books for the world to see. What we are asking is for them to be more transparent and provide more information that helps the public be comfortable with this change.
In all likelihood, the decision to end its contract with EEP after 35 years in favor of an out-of-state organization never would have been received well by the community. But without knowing why EEP wasn’t up to the task of improving emergency care at RiverBend, the public is left to guess.
Repeatedly given the chance to say more, PeaceHealth leaders have doubled down on deflection instead. And in the absence of information, many in the community are assuming the worst.
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