Patients at one of the Eugene-Springfield area’s two hospitals are being treated in a former call center and a former vending machine room. It comes amid a surge in respiratory illnesses and ongoing turmoil in the local healthcare system.
In a letter to the Oregon Health Authority last month - a Peace Health Executive told the agency it was facing an overwhelming number of patients seeking emergency care at its RiverBend Medical Center in Springfield.
In addition to a late-season spike in respiratory illnesses, the Hospital has also had an 80% increase in boarding patient time, which is when patients are admitted to the hospital but wait hours, or days in some cases, for care.
PeaceHealth Oregon Chief Medical Officer Kim Ruscher said the strain on the ER has forced the hospital to delay some in-patient surgeries.
"These aren’t patients who are having elective cosmetic surgery, these are patients that need cancer surgery, heart surgery, and have chronic pain," she said.
The surge in patients and troubles with boarding comes a little over a year after PeaceHealth closed the University District Hospital Emergency Room in Eugene. PeaceHealth told the state it’s also trying to accommodate thousands of former Oregon Medical Group patients who lost their primary care providers.
Ruscher said RiverBend has also had to limit the number of transfers it accepts from other hospitals. It’s still taking trauma patients - but fewer other surgeries.
"We aren't able to take those patients right now at all to the same degree, if at all on some days that we normally would,” Ruscher said. “Which means those patients may be from Roseburg, or other communities, are having to travel further than they would normally for that care."
Rob Sabin, a RiverBend ER nurse and a local leader for the Oregon Nurses’ Association, said the last several months have been hectic for RiverBend healthcare workers.
"I think we have great staff, people come here wanting to do a good job, wanting to take care of patients. So please know we're doing the best we can." - PeaceHealth Oregon Chief Medical Officer Kim Ruscher
He said the ER is seeing a lot of respiratory patients, but they’re also seeing patients who don’t have a primary care doctor, or couldn’t get an appointment.
"Many of our patients tell us, I'm supposed to do this very routine thing, they cannot see me for five to six months (and) they told me to come here.” Sabin said. “We are becoming people's primary care when really we should be seeing emergent, life threatening cases."
Sabin said hospitals plan for surges, such as respiratory illnesses in the winter and injuries during the summer. He said nurses warned PeaceHealth before it closed the University District ER that it wouldn’t have enough capacity.
"Problems that we are dealing with, especially in the last few months, were predictable when they decided to close the hospital,” Sabin said. “And it seems like hospital administration is just now realizing the things we as nurses were telling them would be the effects a year ago."
Sabin said the hospital doesn’t have enough space and is short staffed. He says the union has also surveyed patients, and many reported long wait times.
The state has given PeaceHealth permission to use the former call center, family room and a room that used to hold vending machines. The waiver lasts until April 1.
PeaceHealth says those spaces are fully equipped to see patients and now look similar other exam rooms.
Ruscher said the extra space has helped reduce the amount of time people spend in the ER, from an average of four and a half hours to one and a half to two hours. PeaceHealth is considering whether to ask for the changes to be permanent.
"We had a really bad flu season, of course we're also watching what happens with RSV, COVID,” Ruscher said. “There was a measles case in Seattle last week, so there's a lot to keep an eye on."
Ruscher said PeaceHealth also isn’t alone in its struggles with boarding. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, hospitals across the country struggle with bottlenecks.
She said RiverBend has been hiring physicians, and nurses as quickly as possible. She said PeaceHealth’s new rehab center should reduce boarding, which should help ease the strain. Groundbreaking for the rehab center is set for Wednesday, but the facility isn’t expected to open until July 2026.
Ruscher said the new rehab building, along with other planned expansions, will add 196 beds over the coming years.
"I think we have great staff, people come here wanting to do a good job, wanting to take care of patients,” Ruscher said. “So please know we're doing the best we can."
For now, both Sabin and Ruscher urged the public to only go to the emergency room for serious, potentially life threatening conditions. Patients with less severe injuries and illnesses should go to urgent care, or their regular doctor.
This story was changed on March 10, 2025 to add additional context about rooms converted for patient use.
