On Dec. 1, 2023, the beat of PeaceHealth’s University District emergency department came to a halt. The tan, reflective complex that overshadows much of 13th Avenue is now empty, aside from the behavioral health unit, which will remain open. There is no longer a hospital in Eugene, Oregon.
PeaceHealth announced the closure of University District in August 2023. In a statement from Mayor Lucy Vinis, she revealed the City of Eugene “was not consulted in advance” of the announcement. Regarding the closure, Vinis wrote, “It’s one more terrible message that our healthcare system is broken.”
With a population of about 175,000 people, Eugene now must send people in need of medical treatment to Springfield. Healthcare options in Springfield include PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend, where most people are expected to go, and McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. What lies between University District and RiverBend? The Willamette River, questions of access and 5.8 miles which — in an emergency — could cost lives.
To get from University District to RiverBend via car requires taking a bridge over the Willamette, merging onto Interstate 105, turning onto Pioneer Parkway and finally onto Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Only then will you approach a tree-lined road leading to a hospital promising better care and expected wait times of 12 to 14 hours, a number relayed from CAHOOTS responders via their Communications Specialist Keaton Sunchild.
On Oct. 13, nurses and community members held a “Die-In” protest outside of University District’s doors. About 75 protestors — some covered in trash bags to resemble body bags — laid on the ground for 15 minutes, the amount of time it would take an ambulance to reach RiverBend. While protestors were strewn across the pavement, speakers took turns expressing their feelings about the closure. Their voices mixed with passing cars honking their horns in support.
Whereas RiverBend opened in 2008, University District began as Pacific Christian Hospital in 1924. Since then, the hospital has changed leadership and ministries; expanded some buildings while tearing down others; and cleared paths where students can be seen walking to class with backpacks, guitar cases and lacrosse bags slung across their shoulders.
Kevyn Paul started at University District as a receptionist in 1988, where she remembers the community feeling very close-knit and like a family. Now, as an ER nurse and an Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) member leader, she is dealing with the loss of this part of her life. Looking back on the past 35 years working at University District, she says, “It’s been my second home.”
As of Nov. 14, ER nurses like Paul were bidding for jobs to take when they transfer to RiverBend. Nurses in the inpatient medical cohort had recently been laid off, but they were included in the bidding process to start completely new positions at RiverBend. “[The bidding process] is complicated, and there are a lot of rules and anxiety around it,” Paul says. “People don’t know if they’re going to get the same type of position that they’ve had for the last five years that works with their life. You know how life can revolve around work.”
The closure of University District disrupts the rhythm and routine of all of the workers who have kept it running. Throughout our interview, part of Paul’s attention was understandably fixated on bidding updates coming through her Microsoft Teams. Most of the staff members at University District have chosen to transfer to RiverBend or another PeaceHealth location, according to Alicia Beymer, chief administrative officer for University District and RiverBend.
“It’s a very complex transition for sure. Part of it is financial,” Beymer says. PeaceHealth claims University District was losing $2 million monthly amidst a dwindling number of ER patients. At the same time, RiverBend has been described as one of the most profitable hospitals in the United States, according to KEZI.
“PeaceHealth’s mission is to provide healthcare to people in need, not to have the most profitable hospitals around,” says Kevin Mealy, ONA’s communications manager. “I think if the goal was to serve the most people in need, they’d expand services at University District, instead of expanding them to the wealthier hospital.”
From working at University District for the past 35 years, Paul has seen firsthand the ER regulars, and how their income compares to those visiting RiverBend. “We’ve often called ourselves the Mission Hospital because we are the ones who carry out the PeaceHealth mission. We do see a disproportionate amount of uninsured or underinsured people,” she says.
Another community University District has historically served are those struggling with mental health crises. With the closure of the ER, University District is putting all of their mental health resources into the behavioral health unit –– which was expanded in 2014. The unit will remain open for the foreseeable future, and PeaceHealth also plans to build a new rehabilitation center.
“I think we haven’t been a traditional hospital since the opening of RiverBend,” Beymer says. “Starting in 2008, when we kept University District open, it really was to be able to retain behavioral health services and the inpatient rehab. We’ve found other pathways to do that as well.”
Services like CAHOOTS also address mental health. CAHOOTS depended on University District’s ER to help those experiencing mental health crises, drug overdoses or suicidal ideation. Many CAHOOTS jobs involve transportation to psychological evaluation centers and treatment centers for drugs or alcohol — but in most cases — to hospitals.
“We’re taking people to RiverBend in Springfield; that’s a lot of extra driving. Sometimes for people, every minute counts… And then they make it to RiverBend, and a crowded waiting room is a stress-inducing factor all on its own,” says Sunchild. The waiting room at University District once served as a place for people to gather and collect themselves, according to Sunchild. This is no longer an option.
In an address about the closure, PeaceHealth says it is working “with careful discernment on what the next best steps are for [the Eugene] community.”
The City of Eugene can be described in many different ways. Some believe it’s “one of the most livable communities in America.” For others, it’s a college town painted in yellow and green. Others may remember in 2019, Eugene had the highest rate of unhoused people per capita in major cities in America. Regardless of how you see it, Oregon’s second most populous city does not have a hospital.
If needing to visit urgent care, members of the community can go to PeaceHealth’s recently opened location on Hilyard or BestMed Urgent Care. University of Oregon Student Health Services serves students on campus on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the case of emergency, Springfield offers PeaceHealth RiverBend or McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center and an emergency department in Cottage Grove.
