Mapleton
Mapleton, OR · Health
lookouteugene-springfield.com
RiverBend’s ER troubles may go beyond PeaceHealth | Letter to the editor
The PeaceHealth story of Eugene Emergency Physicians and ApolloMD seems to show what can happen when the equivalent of private equity business perspectives infects administrative personnel decisions and the cost part of the equation of medical care becomes the priority over patient needs. Exactly what Oregon Senate Bill 951 was...
lookouteugene-springfield.com
Eugene-Springfield ranks No. 2 for worst air in U.S., lung association says
Air quality in the Eugene-Springfield metro area — already among the worst in the United States — is worsening, according to the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report released Wednesday, April 22. The American Lung Association ranked the southern Willamette Valley cities No. 2...
kezi.com
Petition Supports Eugene ER Physicians
Nearly 7,000 nurses, health care workers, and community members in and around Lane County have signed a petition asking PeaceHealth to suspect its contract with out-of-state medical group Apollo MD and renew its contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians.
lookouteugene-springfield.com
PeaceHealth’s controversial staffing choice highlights a problem in U.S. health care | Letter to the editor
Anyone who has read the local news recently knows about PeaceHealth’s controversial choice to stop working with Eugene’s resident group of emergency physicians and instead partner with ApolloMD, an Atlanta-based medical staffing firm. With this change, there will now be an active consolidation of the hiring managers, practicing doctors and administrative staff at hospitals throughout Lane County.
KVAL
Petition with nearly 7,000 signatures urges PeaceHealth to drop ApolloMD ER staffing plan
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — PeaceHealth is facing renewed pressure over its decision to bring in an Atlanta-based company to staff the emergency department at PeaceHealth RiverBend Hospital in Springfield. The Oregon Nurses Association said it delivered a petition on Wednesday with nearly 7,000 signatures to PeaceHealth executives, demanding the company...
kezi.com
Eugene-Springfield area ranks among worst U.S. cities for air pollution
EUGENE, Ore. - The Eugene-Springfield area ranks in the top five worst U.S. cities for most polluted air by year-round particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association "State of the Air" 2025 report. Experts say one of the most significant impacts on air quality is people. Things like wildfire...
lookouteugene-springfield.com
PeaceHealth asks judge to toss out lawsuit over ER contract
Attorneys for PeaceHealth moved this week to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Eugene Emergency Physicians, alleging the health care system’s deal with Georgia-based ApolloMD violates Oregon’s law regulating the corporate practice of medicine. The legal challenge is part of broader fallout between PeaceHealth leadership and Eugene Emergency Physicians,...
klcc.org
Thousands sign petition urging PeaceHealth to renew local ER doctors' contract
Local nurses have delivered a petition to the PeaceHealth Board of Directors, signed by more than 6,800 supporters of Eugene Emergency Physicians. It’s the latest effort to call out the hospital system’s plan to outsource emergency room care to an out-of-state corporate group. Since becoming a registered nurse...
The Register-Guard
New McKenzie-Willamette emergency room in Eugene takes step forward
Eugene will have an emergency room again within the next 10 years if McKenzie-Willamette's plan comes to fruition. In October 2024, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center announced plans to establish an emergency room in Eugene . The facility would be 18,800 square feet at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Grant Street on the former Kia car dealership lot. On April 15, that plan got its land use hearing. Hearings Official David Doughman said he will issue his formal approval or disapproval of the application by May 7, but the hearing appeared to go well for McKenzie-Willamette. No one spoke in opposition to the project, and during the hearing Doughman complimented the application and remarked on the need it would fill in Eugene, which hasn't had a hospital since the 2023 closure of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District . "I was a little surprised by just the fact that that service is lacking," Doughman said during the hearing, while praising the application. "Nice job," he said. Permits needed to move emergency room project forward The developer needs two planning permits to proceed, a “conditional use permit” and “major adjustment review” permit. The land use hearing was part of those permit
lookouteugene-springfield.com
PeaceHealth exec pressed doctors on care decisions for years, newly obtained emails show
While making life-or-death decisions in the emergency department inside PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, several doctors said messages like this would unexpectedly appear on their screens from someone upstairs. “I see you’re in the RB ED. Rm 20. I’m reviewing admissions.”. Jim McGovern, chief hospital executive...
lookouteugene-springfield.com
I worked in hospitals for decades. Problems at RiverBend are shocking. | Letter to the editor
I was once the senior medical director of a three-hospital network in southern Arizona. During that time, I had an active medical license in Arizona for over 20 years. I didn’t make clinical decisions, except when a medical staff member refused to see an “on call” patient admitted to him.
klcc.org
South Lane Fire & Rescue hopes second time's a charm with voters for new fire levy
In the May 19 election, South Lane County Fire & Rescue will have another go at trying to pass a new fire levy. It’s the same proposed tax increase rejected by voters last November. Stephen Beach is a co-captain with South Lane County Fire & Rescue (SLCFR). But when...
Emerald Media
Nag: Keep our emergency physicians local
After a 35-year relationship with the Eugene Emergency Physicians, a group of local physicians and position associates, PeaceHealth executives announced plans to outsource emergency care. This marks the latest development in a series of haphazard decisions taken by the executive board, with one of the most notable examples being the sudden closure of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District, which left nearly 200,000 people without a hospital or emergency room in Eugene.
grantspasstribune.com
Lawmakers Seek Clarity After PeaceHealth Executive Placed on Leave Amid Patient Care Concerns
State lawmakers from the Eugene area are calling for greater transparency and accountability following confirmation that a senior PeaceHealth executive has been placed on leave while an internal review is conducted into allegations involving patient care oversight. PeaceHealth stated that Dr. Jim McGovern, chief hospital executive for the organization’s Oregon...
lookouteugene-springfield.com
PeaceHealth’s ER decision ‘irreconcilably compromised,’ doctors and officials say
This story has been updated with comments from PeaceHealth. Representatives of hospital doctors and local elected officials on Friday, April 10, called for accountability and the reversal of recent contracting decisions regarding the emergency department at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. PeaceHealth placed Jim McGovern, chief hospital executive...