The Lane County Medical Society’s mission is to support physician members as they practice medicine, including advocating for accessible health care and the overall health of the community.
Recently, the medical society’s Board of Trustees had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Eugene Emergency Physicians, sometimes called EEP, as well as PeaceHealth administration leaders in regards to the upcoming transfer of operations of the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend emergency department from EEP to ApolloMD, which is an Atlanta-based physician-owned company.
From these conversations, the board came away with the understanding that the RiverBend emergency department has been operating under increasing strain in recent years. The closure of the University District hospital, processes for boarding patients, increasing emergency department volumes and the ongoing behavioral health crisis have created complex challenges affecting patient flow and emergency department operations…