Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has urged Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth to delay the planned closure of its hospital in Eugene, describing the current timeline of the system's plans as "woefully inadequate" in a Sept. 22 The Lund Report article.
PeaceHealth announced plans to close the University District Hospital in Eugene on Aug. 22. Hospital officials have said that, as part of the closure, they want to move emergency services to PeaceHealth's RiverBend hospital in Springfield, leaving Eugene without an emergency facility.
In a letter to PeaceHealth executives, Ms. Kotek urged a nine-month minimum period from Oct. 1 for the closure of the emergency department. The health system has said it wants to close emergency services in November and to shift inpatient beds to RiverBend in early 2024 to expedite the hospital closure.
"As I shared, PeaceHealth's proposed transition period will not allow for the thorough coordination and communication that PeaceHealth's decision requires and that impacted communities demand," Ms. Kotek wrote in the letter.
Ms. Kotek's intervention comes after Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis condemned the planned closure and said she was in contact with the governor about the move.