After more than three decades with the same local emergency group, PeaceHealth Oregon is cutting ties and bringing in an out-of-state operator to run three Lane County ERs. The health system recently told local emergency clinicians it will not renew its long-running contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians, instead shifting emergency room coverage at RiverBend, Cottage Grove, and Peace Harbor hospitals to Atlanta-based ApolloMD when current agreements expire this spring and summer.
The decision affects roughly four dozen emergency physicians and physician assistants who have staffed those ERs for decades and comes as RiverBend continues to struggle with crowding and long waits. In response, local clinicians have started organizing against the handoff, signing agreements that would bar them from working for ApolloMD during a 90-day window after the existing contracts end. Hospital leaders say the move is aimed at improving patient flow and satisfaction, not punishing individual doctors.
PeaceHealth’s explanation
In a message to staff, PeaceHealth said ApolloMD was chosen after what it described as a comprehensive assessment led by Oregon-based clinical and administrative leaders, according to OPB. The email portrayed ApolloMD as a physician-owned firm that focuses on patient satisfaction and support for clinicians.
The note specifically thanked Eugene Emergency Physicians for years of service and named Dr. Jim McGovern and Dr. Kim Ruscher. PeaceHealth framed the shift as a procurement call that it believes will help the system perform better on wait time and throughput metrics that have dogged the busy RiverBend emergency department.
Doctors push back
Members of Eugene Emergency Physicians, which has covered PeaceHealth emergency rooms for roughly 35 years, say the announcement caught them off guard. They have signed an internal agreement promising not to work for ApolloMD for 90 days after the current contract ends, KLCC reports…