Eugene's plan to move on after emergency room closure: More ambulances, more cooperation
Citing declining numbers of patients and significant costs, the PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District officially closed its emergency department on Friday, leaving the second-largest city in Oregon without an emergency room.
Despite the city's initial worries, some local officials are now predicting the impact might not be as bad as they initially feared.
"The closure of the university district is an important issue ... but there are a lot of people that think this is a lot worse than it really is," said Eugene City Councilor Alan Zelenka during a council meeting last week. "It looks like a big hospital, but it really was pretty minimal services there."
Zelenka said many services had begun moving out of the hospital to RiverBend already, something seconded by Eugene Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven.
"Those people who actually needed an ambulance were going to RiverBend or McKenzie-Willamette for cardiac, stroke, trauma," Caven said. "Geriatric care, some rehabilitation stuff, things that needed urgent care that might get you admitted for observation... that's the inpatient services that they (University District) were providing."
PeaceHealth announced the "comprehensive" closure in August, causing concern among Eugene community members. A series of protests and activism to keep the hospital open ensued, but PeaceHealth stood by its decision.
For emergency medical services, Eugene-Springfield residents may go to either PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend, located at 3333 Riverbend Drive in Springfield; McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, located at 1460 G St. in Springfield; or PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center, located at 1515 Village Drive in Cottage Grove.
What will be at University District now?
Although the emergency department at University District is closed, there are still some services in the area.
The new University District Urgent Care clinic was opened on the ground floor of the PeaceHealth Medical Group building at 1200 Hilyard St., across the street from the University District hospital tower that will be closing. As of Friday, the new urgent care clinic’s hours will be 8 a.m. to midnight.
This urgent care was moved from its West Eugene location, which is no longer operating.
Urgent care offers services for illnesses and injuries that may not need immediate treatment but should be evaluated within the next day or two. PeaceHealth recommends going to urgent care for ailments like asthma attacks, moderate burns or cuts, sprains or breaks, and moderate illnesses that may require rapid tests.
To help determine whether to seek care at an emergency department or at urgent care, PeaceHealth recommends visiting peacehealth.org/healthy-you/infographic-know-where-go-care.
On Friday, Dec. 15, the inpatient rehabilitation unit, now the only remaining service in the University District hospital tower, will relocate to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. Following the unit’s move to RiverBend, the University District hospital tower will fully close.
The following University District services do not change:
The inpatient behavioral health unit, on the corner of Alder Street and 11th Avenue, remains open and serving patients.
The PeaceHealth Medical Group building at University District still maintains many PeaceHealth clinics and doctors’ offices, including pediatrics, family medicine, dermatology, and ear, nose and throat. It also houses lab and imaging services, as well as the new urgent care.
Currently, there are no definitive plans for the future of the University District hospital tower, including decisions on whether the building will be sold or rented out.
PeaceHealth stated via email to the Register-Guard that it is "focused on the smooth closure of the University District Emergency Department and relocation of the inpatient rehabilitation unit from the University District hospital tower to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield."
Possible solutions for concerns raised about Eugene ER closure
Caven said the closure would lead to a rise in patients needing transportation via ambulance to one of the Springfield hospitals, including patients who previously would have walked into the Eugene emergency room.
Funding, equipment and staff are all concerns for Eugene Springfield Fire right now.
Caven said the three ambulances that had been funded by the city's Community Safety Initiative in early 2022 still have not been delivered but are expected in the next 90 to 120 days. Eugene Springfield Fire is prepared to dispatch fire crews to temporarily staff an ambulance to help support capacity if needed, he said.
"We feel like we've got a good approach," Caven said. "It's going to take care of the community. It's going to help keep our staff from being tremendously overburdened unless we need to bring more of them back in and force them to work to help cover this gap. We don't anticipate that that's going to be needed."
Eugene Springfield Fire will be reexamining its emergency response data every Monday to determine whether there's a need for more or fewer units, all while trying to stay within budget.
At the same time, city officials are working on potential political solutions.
State Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, is working with the city to draft a bill in hopes of finding one-time emergency funding from the state.
Caven said he hopes the bill will come to fruition, but there are also other plans in the works. He pointed to "wall time," which is when a patient is being offloaded from an ambulance and admitted into a hospital, and a new billing system when EMS workers are kept at the hospitals due to wait times. Caven said Eugene Springfield Fire received their first quarterly "wall time bills" in October, totaling $327,000 between Eugene and Springfield's three hospitals.
Hospitals noticed this number. Currently, EMTs can't assist patients once they're in a hospital. Some EMS teams are exploring new agreements with hospitals to let their staff keep helping inside, as they would be employed by both the EMS and the hospital. This approach is one of the strategies Eugene Springfield Fire is advocating to speed up the return of ambulance units to the streets.
Caven said the department is anticipating Eugene Springfield Fire and the Springfield hospitals will be even busier post-closure.
He estimated that Eugene Springfield Fire transported an average of 15 people per day to the University District hospital, with the majority of its emergency patients being walk-ins.
Reach reporter Miranda Cyr at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How Eugene is adjusting to PeaceHealth's hospital ER closure
