TODAY: Healthcare Providers Leading “Save Our ER Docs” Rally At PeaceHealth In Springfield - 03/12/26

MEDIA ADVISORY

March 12, 2026

TODAY: 'Save Our ER Docs' Rally at PeaceHealth
Thursday, March 12
3 - 5:30 p.m.
Speeches at 4:45 p.m.
Intersection of MLK Blvd. and Cardinal Way in Springfield, OR
In front of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend’s campus

WHAT: Healthcare providers, elected officials, and community members are holding a rally in support of local emergency room doctors.

PeaceHealth executives recently refused to renew its contract with the Eugene Emergency Physicians group whose members have cared for local families during medical emergencies for 35 years. PeaceHealth is attempting to outsource its emergency room care to a large, out-of-state medical group. 

WHEN: Thursday, March 12 from 3 - 5:30 p.m. Speakers will begin at approximately 4:45 p.m. 
Healthcare workers and allies will be available for media comment during the event.

WHERE: The intersection of MLK Blvd. and Cardinal Way in Springfield, OR. 
(In front of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend–3333 Riverbend Dr, Springfield, OR 97477)

WHO: Frontline nurses and medical staff from PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend, Eugene Emergency Physicians, firefighters, paramedics, elected officials, and community members. 

WHY: Healthcare workers, elected leaders and community members are united in opposition to PeaceHealth’s proposal to auction off emergency care to a corporate medical group from Georgia. 

Local doctors from Eugene Emergency Physicians have cared for and saved the lives of patients and families at PeaceHealth emergency rooms in Eugene, Springfield, Florence and Cottage Grove for more than three decades. They have won multiple awards from PeaceHealth and have earned the respect and admiration of their colleagues and community members. 

Outsourcing our community’s healthcare to an out-of-state corporate medicine group would be a costly mistake which will negatively impact providers, patients and the community. 

PeaceHealth’s executives have faced intense scrutiny and widespread criticism of their outsourcing proposal with many sharing concerns the change could threaten community health and safety. Since the announcement, community members have roundly criticized the decision; medical providers and nurses have both held votes of no confidence in PeaceHealth’s executives; and elected leaders have questioned the proposal's legality while calling on PeaceHealth to maintain its relationship with local emergency care providers.

• Sign nurses’ petition to support local ER doctors.
   
• Learn more about PeaceHealth executive’s history of poor decisions.

Oregon House Passes ‘Healthcare Without Fear Act’ (Photo) - 03/02/26

Bill to hold federal immigration agents accountable in hospitals has passed the House and Senate; Setting the stage to become law

(SALEM, Ore.) – The Oregon House of Representatives voted to pass the Healthcare Without Fear Act, Senate Bill 1570 B, March 2. The Healthcare Without Fear Act helps ensure federal immigration agents are held accountable to the same standards as state and local law enforcement inside hospitals; protects patients’ private health information; and ensures every Oregonian can access healthcare without fearing for their health and safety. 

“Hospitals are places of healing, safety and trust. The Healthcare Without Fear Act ensures everyone has access to healthcare free from fear, intimidation or interference," said ONA President Tamie Cline, RN. “Oregonians won’t allow our healthcare to be dictated by a man with a gun. Mothers and fathers should be able to take their children to the emergency room without fearing for their safety. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, humanity and compassion.”  

Today’s House vote clears the way for a concurrence vote in the Senate before being sent to the governor to be signed into law. The Senate passed a previous version of the bill Feb. 24. 

“As a first responder, I know that hospitals and emergency rooms are carefully coordinated environments where roles are clear, every second matters, and trust is essential. When immigration enforcement disrupts that environment, people get hurt,” said Representative Dacia Grayber, House District 28. “This bill protects patient privacy and limits access to sensitive areas, ensuring that patient care is never compromised by enforcement activity.” 

The Healthcare Without Fear Act requires hospitals to create policies around all law enforcement interactions; designate a point person to interface with law enforcement and reduce burdens on frontline caregivers; and clearly designate public and private spaces within hospitals. It protects patients’ privacy by classifying immigration status and place of birth as protected health information and empowers healthcare providers to share information about immigration rights or legal services with patients and their families.

Senate Bill 1570 B is part of a national effort to hold federal government agencies accountable and protect vulnerable patients. California passed a similar bill (California Senate Bill 81) in 2025.

Multiple states are working to restore safety measures for patients and community members after the Trump administration eliminated long-standing “sensitive location” protections in 2025. The protections restricted immigration enforcement at hospitals, clinics, schools, places of worship and other areas. 

Since the change, federal immigration agents in Oregon shot two people in a hospital parking lot; arrested an entire family trying to take their sick 7-year-old daughter to the ER; and have reportedly entered hospital restricted areas, exposed patients’ private health information, and interfered with patients’ care.

More information on the Healthcare Without Fear Act can be found at OregonRN.org/CareWithoutFear. 

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Nurses Declare ‘No Confidence’ In PeaceHealth Executives - 03/02/26

A majority of registered nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend report they have no confidence in PeaceHealth executives

(SPRINGFIELD, Ore.) – In an effort to improve community health and hold PeaceHealth executives accountable, this week frontline nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend held a vote of no confidence in PeaceHealth’s chief hospital executive Jim McGovern, MD, and chief medical officer Kim Ruscher, MD. 

Ninety-eight percent of nurses who voted say they have no confidence in PeaceHealth executives’ ability to meet its mission to provide outstanding patient care and promote our community’s health. 

Oregon Nurses Association members held the vote between Feb. 23 – March 1. ONA represents more than 1,600 frontline registered nurses working at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend. A majority of nurses participated in the vote. 

“This vote sends a clear message: our community deserves better healthcare,” said Chris Rompala, RN, ONA executive chair and nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend. “Frontline nurses are frustrated and alarmed by PeaceHealth’s repeated cuts, closures, and outsourcing attempts. PeaceHealth executives are leading our community’s care in the wrong direction. Nurses are standing together to demand accountability and a renewed commitment to safe, local, patient-centered healthcare.”

Medical staff at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend recently held their own vote of no confidence at PeaceHealth. More than 93% voted they had “no confidence” in PeaceHealth executives McGovern and Ruscher. In a second medical staff vote, 98% voted to reverse PeaceHealth’s decision to outsource local emergency medical care and asked to restore Eugene Emergency Physicians as PeaceHealth’s emergency room providers. 

ONA nurses strongly support local ER doctors and have repeatedly asked PeaceHealth executives to reverse their decision to outsource care and to renew the contract with Eugene Emergency Physicians.

The latest no confidence vote follows years of profit-centered decisions by PeaceHealth executives, including closing Eugene’s only hospital—leaving nearly 200,000 residents in Oregon’s third-largest city without a hospital or emergency room—and shuttering local healthcare options including a sleep clinic and pediatric cardiology service in Springfield; medical and optometry clinics in Eugene; and home infusion services. PeaceHealth executives have also repeatedly led mass layoffs of caregivers and support staff including hospice nurses; flaunted Oregon’s safe nurse staffing law; and are attempting to outsource local emergency doctors. 

Nurses’ no confidence vote demonstrates how these decisions have undermined the mission and values PeaceHealth claims to uphold and eroded trust between executives, caregivers and our local community. 

“PeaceHealth executives’ pattern of closures, layoffs and attempted outsourcing isn’t sustainable or acceptable,” said Rob Sabin, RN, ONA executive team member and ER nurse at PeaceHealth RiverBend. “Executives must be accountable to the people they serve. We need leaders who value transparency and cooperation and who are committed to working with frontline healthcare professionals and community leaders to put patients first.” 

• Learn more about PeaceHealth executives’ history of poor decisions.

Senate Passes ‘Healthcare Without Fear Act’ (Photo) - 02/24/26

Oregon Senate Bill 1570 will hold federal immigration officers accountable inside hospitals, protect patients’ and providers’ rights, and ensure everyone can access healthcare without fearing for their safety.

(SALEM, Ore.) – Healthcare workers applauded Tuesday as the Oregon Senate voted to pass the Healthcare Without Fear Act, Senate Bill 1570, to ensure hospitals are places of healing and trust; not fear or intimidation. The Healthcare Without Fear Act ensures federal immigration agents are accountable to the same standards as state and local law enforcement inside hospitals; safeguards patients’ private health information; and improves Oregonians’ health and safety.

“This bill is not abstract policy—it is a promise. A promise that Oregon’s hospitals will be safe spaces. A promise that violence and intimidation have no place in healthcare settings. A promise that caregivers can do their jobs without fear. And a promise that all patients are treated with the dignity, humanity, and protection they deserve,” said ONA President Tamie Cline, RN. 

The Healthcare Without Fear Act comes after recent federal policy changes have made hospitals, clinics, and schools targets for immigration enforcement actions from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In Oregon federal immigration agents shot two people in a hospital parking lot; arrested an entire family trying to take their sick 7-year-old daughter to the ER; and reportedly failed to follow protocols inside hospitals by entering restricted areas, exposing protected health information, and interfering with patients’ care. 

Senate Bill 1570 requires hospitals to create policies around all law enforcement interactions, designate a point person to interface with law enforcement to reduce burdens on frontline caregivers, and clearly designate public and private spaces. It protects patients’ privacy by classifying immigration status and place of birth as protected health information and empowers healthcare providers to share information about immigration rights or legal services with patients and their families.

“Our patients do not feel safe seeking necessary and life-saving medical care. This injustice strikes at the heart of our healthcare system,” said ONA member Jayesh Palshikar, RN. “The Healthcare Without Fear Act will protect providers and patients, hold federal officers accountable to basic hospital standards and begin restoring trust in our healthcare system.”

Following today’s successful Senate vote, the bill will move on to the House Committee on Health Care.

More information on the Healthcare without Fear Act can be found at OregonRN.org/CareWithoutFear. 

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Bend Nurses Ratify New Contract At St. Charles Bend - 02/20/26

Frontline caregivers vote to expand and extend historic contract agreement.

(BEND, Ore.) – Registered nurses overwhelmingly voted to ratify a two-and-a-half year contract agreement with St. Charles Bend Feb. 19. The new agreement builds on nurses’ historic 2023 contract which addressed rising costs, improved caregiver recruitment and retention, and rebuilt trust between frontline caregivers and St. Charles management. 

“This agreement shows what’s possible when nurses are treated as strategic partners,” said Rosa Brock, RN, ONA executive team chair at St. Charles Bend. “Working together we found a way to build on our successes, continue raising healthcare standards and ensure our community has a stable healthcare system with nurses they know they can rely on.”

KEY CONTRACT HIGHLIGHTS

• Recruitment and retention improvements with wage increases of 7.5% spread over the next two and a half years
• Pay equity for nurse case managers and transfer center PLRN/TCRNs who will be placed on same salary scale as their nurse colleagues 
• Long-term healthcare stability with a new contract that continues through June 30, 2029

As the only level II trauma center east of the Cascades, nurses at St. Charles Bend are responsible for patients from across Central and Eastern Oregon and into Washington. During difficult economic times, nurses felt it was more important than ever to sign a contract that provides continuity and certainty for patients throughout the region.  

“A lot of our neighbors are struggling. Housing costs are up, the tourist industry is hurting and people are having trouble getting access to basic healthcare,” said David Hilderbrand, RN, ONA vice-chair at St. Charles Bend. “This contract stabilizes our community’s safety net. Your nurses aren’t going anywhere.”

Nurses and St. Charles management have been actively collaborating to address health and safety issues between bargaining sessions through a labor management committee. Nurses plan to continue working together with St. Charles management to keep building trust and solving problems as they arise. 

“Our last agreement helped us turn the corner and resolve a lot of our recruitment and retention issues,” said Brock. “Now that we’re more safely staffed, we can spend more time with each patient and focus on our passion; caring for our community.”

The new contract runs through June 30, 2029.

The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents more than 1200 registered nurses at St. Charles Bend along with providers at St. Charles Prineville, Redmond and Home Health and Hospice.

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ONA Statement On PeaceHealth's Layoff Announcement - 02/11/26

(SPRINGFIELD, Ore.) - The Oregon Nurses Association strongly condemns PeaceHealth’s recent layoffs of skilled caregivers. Corporate executives are failing our community by continuing to put profits ahead of patients’ needs. At a time when federal policies are already threatening access to healthcare, executives are choosing to make Trump-style cuts to our community’s care instead of real investments in the health and well-being of Oregonians.

PeaceHealth’s executives have closed Eugene’s only hospital, repeatedly conducted mass layoffs, attempted to outsource our community’s emergency care, and are now forcing out even more experienced local healthcare providers.  

Fewer frontline caregivers does not mean there will be fewer patients; it means longer waits and lower-quality healthcare for all. 

Our community and its healthcare providers deserve better. PeaceHealth executives must start listening to caregivers and our community and step up to honor its mission and help us provide the high-quality care our community counts on. 

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