Two members of Eugene Emergency Physicians went before an Oregon Senate Committee in Salem Thursday, to address issues related to emergency department staffing changes in Lane County.
At an informational hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs, the doctors described EEP as the county’s safety net on the frontline of public health and disaster response.
They spoke to the importance of being local, especially as “corporate medicine” in hospitals has become a national trend. And they shared their concerns about ApolloMD, the Georgia-based company that PeaceHealth has chosen to replace them in emergency departments in Springfield and Cottage Grove.
Seeking state oversight
EEP co-Vice President Dr. Julie Seo asked lawmakers to consider whether a hospital department transition of this magnitude should receive state-level review, whether the state should request full transparency for ownership and decision-making control, and “whether there should be authority for oversight including, if necessary, the right to seek judicial relief when a transition may materially affect emergency preparedness and public safety infrastructure.”
“Judicial relief” is the remedy a court grants to a party to correct a legal wrong or prevent future harm.
The EEP doctors appeared at the invitation of Sen. James Manning Jr., D-Eugene, who chairs the committee. He said he is “very nervous and concerned” with the proposed emergency care transition.
“PeaceHealth, I am not happy with you,” Manning said, donning dark sunglasses needed following eye surgery. “You closed down the only hospital that Eugene has had. And now, you’re doing other things and I think it’s time that we need to have a serious conversation.”
PeaceHealth Oregon Network executives were not present at the informational hearing.
Chief Hospital Executive Jim McGovern told KLCC on Feb. 26 the emergency department staffing decision was his to make and he stands by it.
McGovern explained what made ApolloMD—which recently registered in Georgia as Lane Emergency Physicians, LLC—stand out.
“What we felt we needed in a partner going forward was a strong ability to do process improvement. ApolloMD has that,” McGovern said. “They have well-structured performance improvement, experience with highly complex and large-volume emergency departments, and the ability not just to design process flow but to implement it and make sure it sticks.”
McGovern said ApolloMD operates multiple EDs the same size as RiverBend in Springfield. And they staff some that are much bigger and much smaller. According to the company website, ApolloMD provides staffing for more than 100 emergency departments across the U.S.
But they’ve never worked in Oregon.
For 35 years, Eugene Emergency Physicians has contracted with PeaceHealth Oregon Network to staff emergency departments in Lane County hospitals.
Who’s pushing back
EEP’s contract ends June 30, 2026. ApolloMD’s Lane Emergency Physicians LLC is expected to take over on July 1. But there is plenty of pushback. Multiple lawmakers and emergency physicians groups have urged PeaceHealth to reverse its decision and reinstate EEP.
At Thursday’s Committee hearing, the EEP doctors read from letters of support from the Oregon chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the medical staff of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle. They also listed support from The American Academy of Emergency Medicine, The Oregon Nursing Association, and Eugene/Springfield Firefighters Local 851.
Dr. Jeremy Brown, co-Vice President of EEP, told the committee that RiverBend has 85,000 ED visits annually, making it one of the busiest emergency departments in Oregon.
“Emergency medicine is a form of organized chaos, with high acuity, time-critical and dependent trust built over years and decades,” Brown said.
He said he’s “scared about the impacts of ApolloMD coming in and the disruptions it’s going to bring.”
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, sat on the panel during the informational hearing and said he has concerns about ApolloMD’s compliance with Oregon’s “Corporate Practice of Medicine Law.” He referred to ORS 58.375 and ORS 58.376 which arose from SB 951.
Oregon SB 951 imposes strict limits on private equity and management services organizations in medical practices to protect clinical independence and patient-centered care. The bill was signed into law on June 9, 2025.
“This is the first major challenge to this law,” Brown said.
In a statement to KLCC, PeaceHealth responded to scrutiny of its hiring process.
“All organizations participating in the RFP process confirmed to PeaceHealth, before submitting proposals, that they could comply with SB 951 requirements. One organization withdrew from the process after determining it could not meet those requirements. PeaceHealth appreciates the engagement of our local and state legislators and will continue working with ApolloMD to provide thorough responses and all requested information.”
Prozanski told KLCC that both he and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle have requested assistance from the Oregon Department of Justice to establish jurisdiction over the matter. He said it may be that the Oregon Health Authority is the agency of oversight regarding the “transfer of service responsibilities,” such as the emergency department staffing transition.
Prozanski said he is troubled with the staffing model of ApolloMD, which he described as “carpetbagging medicine.”
“You’re going to have doctors who are just coming in for some price and they’re not going to be as efficient. They’re not here on a regular basis,” he said. “I could see where this could just become a rotation for their team of doctors who just travel the country.”
PeaceHealth responded in a statement, “Lane Emergency Physicians, LLC has been actively recruiting and finalizing contracts with clinicians that will serve our emergency departments. These physicians are also moving through standard licensing and credentialing processes ahead of the June 1 and July 1 transition dates. Our expectation is that many of these physicians will relocate here and become active members of our community, just as the vast majority of PeaceHealth physicians have done. We are fortunate that Lane County is a beautiful place to live and work.”
'This isn’t over'
Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, is a pediatrician. Speaking from the panel during the hearing, she described the ED transition scenario as “terrifying.”
“We absolutely have to fight this,” she said. “It is terrible care for the community and terrible treatment of professionals who’ve devoted their life to this important work.”
Manning said he and other lawmakers are seeking ways to put this transition “on ice” while determining its legality.
“One of the things that truly bothers me is that it seems like these outside entities have no fear,” he said. “They are not concerned about patient-centered care. They’re only concerned about profitability at the expense of the people in my district, in your district, and all our districts, as a matter of fact.”
Manning ended the hearing with these words: “This is not over.”
