EUGENE, Ore. — U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle is calling on PeaceHealth to reconsider its decision to replace Eugene Emergency Physicians with ApolloMD at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.
In a letter sent Wednesday to PeaceHealth CEO Liz Ness, Hoyle expressed deep concern that ending the hospital’s decades-long relationship with Eugene Emergency Physicians (EEP) could disrupt patient care and threaten safety at the region’s only Level II trauma center serving southwest Oregon.
RiverBend provides trauma services from Crescent City to Corvallis and sees emergency department volumes nearing 250 patients daily, according to Hoyle’s letter. She argued that now is not the time for major staffing changes and urged hospital leadership to delay the transition to ApolloMD to allow for greater transparency and a longer transition period.
Concerns About Quality and Continuity
Hoyle noted that EEP has staffed the emergency department for 35 years, building long-standing relationships with patients, nurses and hospital staff. She said the group has consistently met or exceeded performance metrics despite record patient volumes and system constraints.
She also pointed to broader challenges, including inpatient capacity limitations that have at times forced physicians to treat patients in hallways due to overcrowding. Replacing an established physician group, she wrote, would not resolve those systemic issues and could instead lead to a loss of institutional knowledge and team cohesion.
“These doctors and their families are part of the fabric of our community. You cannot replace that,” Hoyle wrote.
Call for Dialogue
Hoyle urged PeaceHealth to engage in meaningful discussions with Eugene Emergency Physicians, nursing leadership, emergency medical services partners and community stakeholders before finalizing any decision.
She emphasized that, as a nonprofit healthcare provider, PeaceHealth has a responsibility to weigh financial considerations against long-term public health impacts.
“Healthcare is not a line item in a spreadsheet and lives quite literally depend on the integrity of Southwest Oregon’s emergency care,” Hoyle wrote, adding that she stands ready to meet with hospital leadership to support solutions that strengthen patient care rather than weaken it.
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