At 3:40 PM I read this article by Ashli Blow, who I sent a message to several days ago. Did she pass it around, and, it got to the Judge, who said he got dragged into this? What does that mean? I think he is saying people get salaries – knowing there are oaths and promises made to those who suffer, and they pretend this no longer matters. They lied out the side of their mouths, saying……..
JESUS DOESN’T CARE WHAT WE DO
The Judge knew it was a shell game, that thousands are playing – with the permission of the fake Christian in the White House.
SHIT ROLLS DOWNHILL – RIGHT OUT OF PARADISE!
I gave a mini-Bible lesson to the two sisters I sat on a bench with, looking at ther new temple.
“God can stand the questioning! God – is the truth!”
So, God’s devious monkeys thought they could jimmy and ditz with the giant black object that came to dwell amonst them. Another bad bone is tossed in the air….
AND HERE COMES THE JUDGE!
They scatttered before he could pass judgement, But Kasubhai is going to. Does he sence…..this is the tip of the iceberg?
“Whether or not he issues a final opinion, Kasubhai said he has a responsibility to wrap up matters neatly as the record has become a matter of precedent.
“You dragged me into this. And now we are going through it together,” he said.
I had just moved to Springfield when they put Riverbend in. I drove around my neighborhood and talked to my neighbors, asking this question;
“Did anyone from the hospital canvas the neighborhood seeking your opinion?”
“Nope!”
Here is…..The Riverbend Story!
Opening scene: All is well until the crazy chimps from Eugene came across the river in order to try to take over Springfield. Why? Who would want to live in that godforaken hell-hole? The last attempt is thwarted, Our tribe lives high on the hog.
Then….
John Presco
Posted inHealth
PeaceHealth reverses course, plans to renew ER contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians
by Ashli Blow 2 hours ago
QuickTake:
PeaceHealth’s decision to offer the local doctors group a two- to three-year contract comes after mounting pressure, scrutiny from elected officials and a lawsuit landed the parties in court.
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2 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional comments.
PeaceHealth plans to renew its contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians after nearly three months of the local doctors group fighting to keep emergency department staffing from shifting to Georgia-based ApolloMD.
The health care network will offer Eugene Emergency Physicians a two- to three-year contract at its Cottage Grove and RiverBend locations, according to PeaceHealth spokesperson Joe Waltasti.
PeaceHealth will continue direct employment at its Florence emergency department, as it has in previous years.
The announcement came just before oral arguments that had been scheduled in federal court in Portland Wednesday, May 6, over whether PeaceHealth’s earlier plan to transition emergency department staffing to ApolloMD and a new group called Lane Emergency Physicians violated Oregon’s newly enacted corporate medicine law, Senate Bill 951.
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The dispute included a request-for-proposals process launched last year to replace Eugene Emergency Physicians after decades staffing the hospitals’ emergency departments.
In an internal email to employees, Heather Wall, PeaceHealth’s interim chief executive for the Oregon region, acknowledged the organization needs to rebuild trust with staff.
“I know this has been a difficult and, at times, deeply frustrating period,” Wall said in the Wednesday email, obtained by Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “I understand that for many, this is not just about a contract or a process — it is about trust, how decisions are made, and what is best for not only our workforce, but most importantly, the patients and communities we serve.”
Wall said PeaceHealth made the decision to “reset” its approach based on what the organization has heard and learned.
“We have been reengaging with Eugene Emergency Physicians and taking intentional, deliberate steps to work collaboratively,” Wall said in the memo. “Together, we want to define a path forward for our Emergency Departments that best serves our patients and our communities.”
A written agreement between PeaceHealth and Eugene Emergency Physicians was drafted hours before U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai was scheduled to hear arguments from the parties’ attorneys Wednesday in a lawsuit Eugene Emergency Physicians filed over the transition.
The ongoing hearing regards Eugene Emergency Physicians’ request for a preliminary injunction to block the emergency department staffing transition.
Attorneys said service details are still being negotiated for the new contract, and it could take weeks for details of the terms to come together.
Meanwhile, Kasubhai plans to preside over the matter for the next two weeks until the final agreement is signed. At that time, he will decide whether an opinion is needed, he said.
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Whether or not he issues a final opinion, Kasubhai said he has a responsibility to wrap up matters neatly as the record has become a matter of precedent.
“You dragged me into this. And now we are going through it together,” he said.
Dr. Dan McGee, plaintiff and member of Eugene Emergency Physicians who testified during the hearings, told Lookout during a court recess he is excited to move forward.
“It’s been a long three months,” McGee said. “It’s been life-changing for most of us. I feel that I’m very proud of Eugene Emergency Physicians for standing up against corporate medicine.”
Dr. Brad Anderson, Eugene Emergency Physicians president, signed the current four-page agreement with PeaceHealth. His group has lost a couple of doctors over the last few months due to the “uncertainty,” he said, and the group will work to find replacements.
Anderson said that he is hopeful that their relationship with PeaceHealth will be stronger as they go forward, citing “some of the leadership changes that they’ve made.”
The legal fight has unfolded alongside a broader controversy surrounding Dr. Jim McGovern, PeaceHealth’s former chief hospital executive for the Oregon network, who announced the transition in February.
McGovern was later placed on leave amid allegations he acted outside the scope of his medical license and inserted himself into patient care decisions. Physicians at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend have filed a separate complaint against him with the Oregon Medical Board.
Before PeaceHealth’s reversal Wednesday, the ApolloMD transition was nearing, with a July 1 transition date for the emergency department at RiverBend, and a June 1 start for ERs in PeaceHealth’s Cottage Grove and Florence hospitals.
My cat Classy has shared my pillow, and twice put her paw on my neck. I have been debating contacting a news reporter in town and going to the court house. I would like to testify how religious institutions have been playing a “shell game”. I talked to an attorney two months ago.
John ‘The New Francsiscan’
“What all of you are doing now is not helping me understand the actual relationship any better than it being perhaps more of a shell game,” Kasubhai said.”
“The idea that … he has no idea how this organizational structure is set up defies logic and credibility,” Kasubhai said.
Chapman said he doesn’t plan to relocate to Oregon but will have final authority over hiring, scheduling and clinical oversight. He said he plans to rely on local physician leaders to help him.”
Controversial ER takeover sounds like possible ‘shell game,’ judge says
- Updated: May. 01, 2026, 6:31 a.m.
- |Published: May. 01, 2026, 6:30 a.m.
By
A frustrated federal judge this week appeared skeptical that PeaceHealth’s plan to hire a national contractor to help run its three ERs in Oregon meets the state’s toughest-in-the-U.S. ban on corporate practice of medicine.
But U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai said it’s hard to tell because so many details around the transition remain murky.
Over three days of testimony, Kasubhai pressed witnesses on basic but elusive points: who will actually hold authority, who will make key decisions affecting patient care and what written agreements spell out the roles and boundaries of the companies and physicians involved.
Kasubhai must decide who ultimately is in charge of patient care if the out-of-state company takes over from a local doctors group that has staffed the emergency rooms for more than three decades.
That’s crucial because an Oregon law passed last year cracks down on non-medical companies exerting control over how medical practices are run – even behind the scenes – to make sure doctors stay in charge of patient care.
At times, the testimony appeared to test the judge’s patience.
“What all of you are doing now is not helping me understand the actual relationship any better than it being perhaps more of a shell game,” Kasubhai said.
Georgia-based staffing firm ApolloMD and its newly formed Oregon practice, Lane Emergency Physicians, are poised to take over the ERs at PeaceHealth’s Cottage Grove Community Medical Center and Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence on June 1 and then the ER at Sacred Heart at RiverBend Medical Center in Springfield in July.
But Eugene Emergency Physicians, the contractor for 35 years, sued to block the transition. Plaintiffs also include one of its doctors, Dr. Dan McGee, and a Lane County parent whose child has received emergency care locally. They argue ApolloMD’s staffing model violates Oregon’s law and has been pushed forward too quickly, potentially putting patients at risk.
ApolloMD employs a model increasingly used in healthcare: The company would handle business operations — recruiting, scheduling, billing and analytics — while it forms a separate, physician-owned practice, Lane Emergency Physicians, to employ doctors and oversee patients.
Witnesses for PeaceHealth and ApolloMD said that setup is standard and legal. Their attorneys argued that Oregon Senate Bill 951 allows companies to handle administrative work as long as physicians care for the patients.
The judge said industry norms won’t decide the case.
He repeatedly told lawyers that Oregon’s new law may have changed the rules — and that his job isn’t to weigh policy arguments or fix strained emergency rooms, but to determine whether the arrangement crosses a legal line.
Kasubhai pressed Dr. Yogin Patel, the CEO of ApolloMD, on basic questions and wondered aloud if ApolloMD’s layered corporate structure obscures accountability.
Patel testified that Lane Emergency Physicians would operate the practice while ApolloMD would get a management fee for administrative support. Payments from PeaceHealth, he said, would flow to the physician group, which would pay clinicians and then compensate ApolloMD.
Patel acknowledged that ApolloMD is already deeply involved in building the operation, including recruiting physicians, staffing and compensation. He insisted, however, that the company wouldn’t control clinical decisions.
Patel, who lives in North Carolina, said he expects to work shifts as a practicing emergency doctor for Lane Emergency Physicians, even as he continues to serve as ApolloMD’s chief executive. He conceded that he has not yet signed his own independent contractor agreement.
The sole owner of Lane Emergency Physicians, Dr. Johne Philip Chapman of Chicago,
struggled to explain the new practice’s structure, prompting a sharp retort from the judge.
“The idea that … he has no idea how this organizational structure is set up defies logic and credibility,” Kasubhai said.
Chapman said he doesn’t plan to relocate to Oregon but will have final authority over hiring, scheduling and clinical oversight. He said he plans to rely on local physician leaders to help him.
But he confirmed that he doesn’t have a finalized operating agreement spelling out how Lane Emergency Physicians will make decisions or a signed contract with PeaceHealth. Financial terms are still under negotiation, he said.
At the same time, he said, roughly 50 to 60 physicians have signed contracts and that draft schedules for June are already in place.
At several points, Kasubhai suggested the evidence on both sides is still incomplete as he pressed attorneys to focus on concrete facts rather than hypotheticals.
“I’m frankly quite frustrated with how this evidence is developing,” he said at one point. “The plausible deniability that seems to be built into these witnesses’ responses is discouraging, disappointing.”
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He also floated the idea that the parties might be better served by finding a compromise, suggesting uncertainty about whether the current record is strong enough to support a clear ruling.
For now, the central question remains unresolved: Does ApolloMD’s role amount to permissible administrative support or does it cross into the kind of control that Oregon law prohibits.
The hearing is set to continue next week, with several key witnesses still to testify. They include Denise Gideon, a PeaceHealth official who oversaw the emergency department staffing bids, Dr. Kim Ruscher, the organization’s chief medical officer in Oregon, and Raleigh Chisholm, a nursing administrator.
Rosamond Press 
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