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Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. It's been one of the top stories in the community for many months: all the controversies and back and forth between PeaceHealth and Eugene Emergency Physicians. First, PeaceHealth terminated the partnership, then reversed course. Through it all, our reporter Tiffany Eckert has been there to cover every twist and turn. Today on the show, Eckert joins us to talk about this saga from the very beginning to where it stands now. In the second part of the show, a reporter from the Register-Guard joins us to talk about the sad and sordid tale of Cascade Relief Team, which was supposed to help those impacted by the Holiday Farm Fire. Instead, its leader is now the subject of a massive lawsuit brought by Oregon's attorney general. KLCC's Tiffany Eckert, Tiffany, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming in.
Tiffany Eckert: Oh, I'm happy to be here.
Dunne: Tiffany, you've been covering the story. You broke a lot of this story from way back. Why don't you take our listeners back to where this controversy between PeaceHealth and Eugene Emergency Physicians began?
Eckert: Well, I don't know if controversy is the right word, Michael, but we would call it a saga.
Dunne: Saga is a good word.
Eckert: Starting at the very beginning: I broke the story on Feb. 4 that PeaceHealth Oregon had announced it was ending its 35-year relationship with Eugene Emergency Physicians. At that point, most people in this community didn't know the term Eugene Emergency Physicians or what the entity did. EEP is now sort of a household name. It's been in the news so much, and so much of the community has gathered around it.
Dunne: You made it a household name, to some degree.
Eckert: So much of the community is behind EEP, and that's how I'll refer to them going forward. This local emergency medicine group was set to be replaced by a Georgia-based management corporation called Apollo MD, another name that's now on the lips of many. The move raised concerns among clinicians right away. The doctors and nurses within the hospital system were asking: you're looking to change an entity, a group of doctors and others who we've worked with for decades, who know this system, who have this institutional knowledge. There was a lot of concern from the outset. By Feb. 11, EEP unanimously agreed they would not work for Apollo MD. They signed a pact refusing employment with Apollo MD for at least 90 days past June 30, which would have been the date their contract ended at Riverbend hospital.
Dunne: I want to interject here. Apollo MD is essentially a physician management group, but they didn't have any employees in Eugene. In fact, they were relying on the ability to recruit local people, like EEP doctors, right?
Eckert: Exactly. And that was slowly coming out. It was being understood that this was a management group out of Atlanta making some pretty strong promises about how they would help with patient flow, wait times and other issues the hospital had been struggling with. It also came out that they are a management services organization, a group that is not supposed to work clinically in Oregon. As we came to find out, there is a law against that. By Feb. 24, it had really gained steam. PeaceHealth Oregon's medical staff delivered a decisive vote of no confidence in hospital leadership, because the decision to bring in Apollo MD had been made by chief hospital executive Jim McGovern and Chief Medical Officer Kim Rusher. That was a really significant move. The staff also overwhelmingly supported reversing the decision and returning to EEP.
Dunne: We talked to Mr. McGovern. Dr. McGovern, actually, though the word doctor becomes interesting here, because he becomes central in this whole drama. Maybe pick it up from there.
Eckert: PeaceHealth Oregon's top executive Jim McGovern holds a medical degree from another state. However, he is not licensed to practice medicine in Oregon. He has an administrative license. He was placed on leave on April 9, and we reported on this. It was really big news because finally, PeaceHealth board members and top leadership started to hear complaints from physicians, including those within EEP, alleging that McGovern was improperly directing clinical care, issuing emails with suggestions about how to treat patients despite having no Oregon medical license. The medical staff voted to support McGovern's removal and, again, backed the plan to reverse the decision to replace EEP with Apollo MD. PeaceHealth did act and put McGovern on leave.
Dunne: OK. Talk about what happens from that point. This becomes a legal issue, and there's even courtroom drama around it. Pick it up from there.
Eckert: Earlier in the timeline, lawmakers had begun requesting information from Apollo MD. Who are you? How do you work? What's the structure of your organization? Those requests were made by House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, a Democrat from Tigard. He authored Senate Bill 951, which is now the law of the land. It's essentially a prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine. It closed a few loopholes, including the use of friendly physician models, which became clearly apparent in court. As you referenced, a lawsuit was filed in March, and before long we were watching the first legal test of Senate Bill 951 play out in U.S. District Court. The trial opened with EEP physicians arguing that Apollo MD can't legally provide medical services in Oregon, while PeaceHealth maintained the transition was lawful, citing some communication missteps. And then the saga deepened in court.
Dunne: And if my memory serves, correct me if I'm wrong, federal district Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said that some of the witnesses for Apollo MD weren't necessarily being truthful on the stand. Is that right?
Eckert: That's right. On the third day of testimony it got really tense in the courtroom. Judge Kasubhai repeatedly told those in court: I'm here to learn. I need to know all I can, because my decision will set precedent in this state, and that is very important as it involves Senate Bill 951. On day three, the problem was that PeaceHealth witness Dr. John Chapman, an Illinois-based doctor who was set to take over three of Lane County's emergency rooms, had no intention of moving to Oregon. He was going to run three ERs for PeaceHealth from Illinois. He was unable to answer many questions about his group's ties with Apollo MD and Lane Emergency Physicians, which Apollo MD had essentially created to serve as an EEP replacement, though none of its doctors were certified in Oregon. Chapman's repeated uncertainty led Judge Kasubhai to say that his not knowing how his own company is set up defied logic and credibility. On day four, the judge went further, saying that Apollo MD CEO Dr. Yogan Patel and Lane Emergency Physicians owner Dr. Chapman were being dishonest with the court during their testimony.
Dunne: OK. And ultimately, that leads to a complete reversal by PeaceHealth. Where do things stand now?
Eckert: Court adjourned on May 6. That morning opened with news that a preliminary settlement had been reached between PeaceHealth and EEP. In the early hours they got together and decided to take another look, and it resulted in a complete reversal of what had been asked of them for months prior. They planned to shift back to EEP. I was watching in court and had a strong sense that PeaceHealth's counsel saw the writing on the wall and decided this was not looking good.
Dunne: As we said before: a saga. Tiffany Eckert, you've been instrumental in covering it. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us.
Eckert: Sure enough, thank you.
Dunne: Marcus "Mark" Brooks was the leader of Cascade Relief Team, which was supposed to help those most in need from the Holiday Farm Fire. Instead, he's now the subject of a lawsuit from the state attorney general. A Register-Guard reporter fills us in. Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter with the Register-Guard. Haleigh, thanks so much for coming in and talking with us.
Haleigh Kochanski: Thank you for having me.
Dunne: I really enjoyed the lengthy piece you did about this disaster recovery nonprofit that essentially failed. Let's start with the basics. What was Cascade Relief Team, and what was it supposed to do?
Kochanski: Cascade Relief Team was founded in the wake of the 2020 Labor Day fires here in Oregon, which burned more than a million acres, destroyed thousands of homes and killed 11 people.
Dunne: Given that, what were they supposed to provide, funding, support, resources?
Kochanski: All of the above. They were meant to help victims of wildfires, floods and, as we came to discover, tornadoes in Kentucky.
Dunne: So they operated in a couple of states, not just Oregon.
Kochanski: Yes, in Kentucky as well. And even as we speak, this investigation is ongoing, years after it started during that terrible fire season.
Dunne: The attorney general has weighed in on this nonprofit. What has Attorney General Dan Rayfield said, and what action is being taken?
Kochanski: In April, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a civil lawsuit against Brooks, accusing him of stealing more than $830,000 in charitable funds meant to help victims of wildfires, floods and tornadoes.
Dunne: Basically, the AG is saying you were supposed to spend this money on people who suffered through these disasters, and instead you took it for yourself, right?
Kochanski: Right. And the attorney general alleges he spent the funds on personal credit cards, loans, bills, vacations, child support, visits to strip clubs, a Disneyland trip, and expenses including liquor.
Dunne: I imagine you tried to reach Mr. Brooks. Any luck with that?
Kochanski: No luck at all. We've partnered with our sister newsroom, the Salem Statesman Journal, to reach out to Brooks for comment, and we have not heard back.
Dunne: Can you give us a timeline? They started work after the fires. When did suspicions begin to rise?
Kochanski: In the latter half of 2023, Brooks announced to his team of more than two dozen staff members that they were being laid off because he could no longer make payroll. That raised suspicions among staff, who were concerned about where the funding had gone and how it would impact the community at large.
Dunne: OK. Were there any resources that went to their intended beneficiaries? Did some money get paid out?
Kochanski: We don't know that yet. There is an investigation ongoing, and we're still working to find those answers.
Dunne: Talk a little bit about some of the emotions from the staff members you spoke with. I imagine it runs the gamut from disbelief to hurt to anger.
Kochanski: Their reactions were inconceivable and pretty disheartening, especially given their connections to the communities they served. For example, Melanie Stanley worked for Cascade Relief Team as an operations manager in Blue River. She's currently rebuilding her general store, which was burned in the fires. She was totally in shock at the sheer amount of money Brooks allegedly stole.
Dunne: I wonder, too, did they trust him? Did some of them still feel like, maybe he's not a bad guy, that this was mismanagement rather than outright theft? Are there people who still think he might be OK?
Kochanski: His former employees believed he wanted to do good but just wasn't the best at managing funding or communicating. He knew a lot of individuals here in Oregon, in Kentucky and in other parts of the country, and they believed he genuinely wanted to help people who had experienced these large-scale disasters.
Dunne: And just get us up to speed on the Kentucky operation. What was that about?
Kochanski: There were a few devastating tornadoes that had occurred in Kentucky, and CRT received a grant of around $326,000 meant to help those victims build storm shelters. But we don't know yet what happened with those funds. I believe at least $17,000 went into an overdrawn bank account held by Brooks.
Dunne: And again, CRT stands for Cascade Relief Team. You cover public safety. Looking back, and I know hindsight is always 20/20, were there warning signs? Were there red flags, including the fact, I believe you mentioned, that the board never met?
Kochanski: I believe there were red flags, according to the former staff members I spoke with. But they put a lot of trust in Brooks because he tended to deliver on what he said he would do. Still, discrepancies started popping up and causing concern.
Dunne: So he said he was going to deliver resources and help people, and by some accounts he did. But when it comes to a forensic accounting of it, the money isn't showing where it was spent, right?
Kochanski: Correct.
Dunne: Interesting. Are some of these staffers rebuilding their lives after this? Can you tell us a little about how they're doing after being laid off and finding out the man in charge may have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Kochanski: Some of their careers in nonprofit work are pretty much in ruins. Some of them have been shunned from their communities due to their association with Cascade Relief Team, and they've really struggled with that. They loved the work they did for the community. They believed in it. So this news was just devastating for all of them.
Dunne: Any sense of timing for when the AG's action might reach some sort of resolution? I imagine it's probably a long road.
Kochanski: Probably yes. So far, we just know the complaint has been filed, and we have yet to see that process play out.
Dunne: For a community that suffered so much, this is like a double blow. We really appreciate your reporting on this. Haleigh Kochanski writes about public safety and crime for the Register-Guard. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us.
Kochanski: Thank you, Michael.
Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon on the Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Monday on the show, the dean of the College of Education at Portland State University joins us to talk about a new approach to developing teachers who promote and teach bilingual adolescent literacy. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon on the Record. Thanks for listening.
