PeaceHealth abandons plan to outsource Oregon emergency doctors to ApolloMD after lawsuit and local opposition

PeaceHealth, a nonprofit health system in Oregon, announced Wednesday that it will not move its emergency department staffing to the national physician staffing firm ApolloMD.

The decision reverses a February announcement that the system would end its 35‑year relationship with the local group Eugene Emergency Physicians and replace them with ApolloMD staff.

The plan sparked strong backlash from doctors, nurses, lawmakers and community leaders, and led to a lawsuit filed on March 20 alleging that the arrangement violates a new Oregon law that bars managed service organizations from owning medical practices or influencing clinical decisions.

With the legal challenge looming and the judge indicating the plan likely violates the law, PeaceHealth said it is dropping the outsourcing effort, leaving the existing emergency physicians in place.