Two members of Eugene Emergency Physicians went before an Oregon Senate Committee in Salem on Thursday to address issues related to emergency department staffing changes in Lane County.
At an informational hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs, the doctors described EEP as the county’s safety net on the frontline of public health and disaster response.
They spoke to the importance of being local, especially as “corporate medicine” in hospitals has become a national trend. And they shared their concerns about ApolloMD, the Georgia-based company that PeaceHealth has chosen to replace them in emergency departments in Springfield and Cottage Grove.
Seeking state oversight
EEP co-Vice President Dr. Julie Seo asked lawmakers to consider whether a hospital department transition of this magnitude should receive state-level review, whether the state should request full transparency for ownership and decision-making control, and “whether there should be authority for oversight including, if necessary, the right to seek judicial relief when a transition may materially affect emergency preparedness and public safety infrastructure.”…