'Dangerous and irresponsible': Protesters ask Gov. Kotek to block Eugene hospital closure
About 60 PeaceHealth workers and supporters gathered Monday in front of Eugene's only hospital to protest its planned closure, calling the decision "dangerous and irresponsible."
PeaceHealth, a chain of nonprofit health care centers, announced Aug. 22 it would close its Eugene University District location, citing the center's shrinking patient volume and financial losses of $2 million a month.
It plans to transition inpatient rehabilitation, emergency department and related medical services to the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, which is six miles away in Springfield. Emergency services will phase out of University District in November. Inpatient rehab will temporarily relocate in early 2024, with plans to open a larger rehab facility in 2026.
Ambulatory services, including PeaceHealth Medical Group clinics and Home & Community services, will remain open at the Eugene location.
PeaceHealth said in a news release announcing the closure that since it opened the Springfield Riverbend location in 2008, patient volume at the Eugene location has declined, resulting in financial losses.
At a news conference Monday, local elected officials, healthcare workers and union leaders called on PeaceHealth to reverse its decision or for the Oregon Health Authority or Gov. Tina Kotek to block it.
Workers at the hospital said they objected to PeaceHealth "putting profits over people."
Kevyn Paul, a nurse at the hospital, said the financial losses were the nonprofit's fault for shifting services to Springfield. When the Springfield hospital opened, Paul said, PeaceHealth promised nurses it wouldn't replace the Eugene hospital.
James McGovern, chief executive of the Springfield hospital, said PeaceHealth was up front when it opened the hospital that it would eventually replace the Eugene one.
Chelsea Swift, a representative of CAHOOTS, said in prior discussions the Lane County stabilization center had been envisioned as a resource in addition to the hospital, not as a replacement for it.
The behavioral center will remain open until there is a replacement in the community, Joe Waltasti, PeaceHealth spokesperson, said. He agreed the Lane County stabilization center was not a replacement.
The Eugene center saw 33,639 emergency room visits in the 2021-22 fiscal year and it employs 1,182 people including 145 medical staff, who tend to 113 beds according to PeaceHealth's 2022 report of the location. Those numbers include doctor's offices not impacted by the closure.
Officials representing the city of Eugene, Lane County and the Oregon Nurses Association all said PeaceHealth didn't consult them about the decision.
When it announced the closure, PeaceHealth said the Springfield location would provide much of the services the Eugene center used to provide and it has plans to increase capacity there.
Critics said most Eugene residents live on the opposite side of the Willamette River, and congestion crossing the river would increase the wait for medical treatment in an emergency, in addition to the wait time experienced by patients once there.
Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis said the city's emergency department estimated an average 27-minute longer round-trip to transport people to the Springfield location.
McGovern said the wait times include staff availability in addition to transportation, and that consolidating the staff at the two hospitals would reduce a staffing shortage so wait times would not necessarily increase.
Reporter Miranda Cyr contributed to this article. Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on twitter @alanfryetorres.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene protesters ask PeaceHealth to reverse hospital closure
