More than 150 healthcare workers, elected officials, and community members rallied in front of RiverBend Medical Center in Springfield on Thursday to oppose PeaceHealth’s plan to outsource its local ER doctors.
Just about everyone at the rally waved signs of some kind: “I heart EEP,” “Save our ER Docs,” and “Corporate Medicine = Bad Medicine.”
A group of Eugene Emergency Physicians docs huddled next to the same hospital entrance they take to get to work. Meg Pattison is Medical Director for RiverBend’s ER. She said she’s proud to be at the rally.
“Everybody’s really advocating for the same thing,” she said. “We want to provide good care to our patients in the community and that’s really what we’re asking for.”
Brett Gorham has been an emergency medicine doc here for almost 3 years and he just wants PeaceHealth to consider the impact of their decision.
“I don’t think they know what they’re losing if we all go away,” Gorham said.
PeaceHealth’s decision to contract out emergency services to a Georgia-based staffing company has sparked concerns among medical providers, elected officials and community members who worry patient care is at stake.
State Sens. Floyd Prozanski and James Manning Jr, both Eugene Democrats, attended the rally. They have both been vocal critics of PeaceHealth’s decision to swap EEP for ApolloMD.
“Here we have a group that has been committed in our community for 35 years, and we should all be standing up for them because they stand up and help us when we need their assistance,” Prozanski said.
“I am not happy with PeaceHealth,” Manning warned. “The arrogance of the hospital executive Dr. McGovern to say ‘I made my decision about these ER doctors and there is nothing anyone can do about it.’ That’s someone that, if he’s going to be coming before the legislature, I will remember what he said.”
Manning added, “without these ER docs, without these ONA nurses—this hospital couldn’t function.”
Other elected officials at the event were State Rep. Lisa Fragala, D-Eugene, and Lane County Commissioners Laurie Trieger and Heather Buch.
As the “Save our ER Docs” rally grew in size outside, PeaceHealth administration inside the hospital issued a statement saying their “focus is on the upcoming transition” and they “continue to hope that current Eugene Emergency Physicians will decide to hear what Lane Emergency Physicians LLC (ApolloMD) can offer them and choose to remain with us.”
All 41 member/owners of Eugene Emergency Physicians have signed an agreement refusing to work for ApolloMD or its newly licensed business, Lane Emergency Physicians.
