Lane County ER Doctors Sue to Block PeaceHealth's Contract With ApolloMD

Dr. Dan McGee and the physicians of Eugene Emergency Physicians walked into Lane County Circuit Court on March 20 and filed a complaint that puts 35 years of ER history on the line: void PeaceHealth's contract with Atlanta-based ApolloMD, block the company from operating in Oregon, and keep the local group staffing Lane County emergency rooms until a judge decides whether PeaceHealth broke state law to make the switch.

The filing marks the latest development in nearly six weeks of fallout between PeaceHealth and Eugene Emergency Physicians, a local group that has provided emergency care at the hospital for nearly 35 years. PeaceHealth Oregon announced it would not renew its long-standing contract with the local group to staff emergency departments in Springfield, Cottage Grove, and Florence, setting ApolloMD to begin staffing emergency rooms in Cottage Grove and Florence on June 1, and RiverBend on July 1.

Eugene Emergency Physicians filed its complaint alongside two other plaintiffs: parent Karen Stapleton, whose child may use local emergency rooms in the near future, and Dr. Dan McGee, a Lane County doctor concerned about disruptions to his own practice and patients. The plaintiffs ask the court to void the agreements, shut down Lane Emergency Physicians in Oregon, block the defendants' hiring practices, pause the transition from Eugene Emergency Physicians until adequate care is in place, and bar ApolloMD and related entities from operating in the state.

The complaint's central target is a corporate structure the plaintiffs say was built specifically to evade Oregon law. PeaceHealth executives are working with ApolloMD to launch Lane Emergency Physicians, a new practice that will be owned by an Illinois physician, Dr. Johne Philip Chapman, and will staff PeaceHealth's three emergency departments in Springfield, Cottage Grove, and Florence. In a March 6 letter to state lawmakers, ApolloMD CEO Yogin Patel said his company is committed to full compliance with Oregon law, and that the newly formed Lane Emergency Physicians LLC holds the emergency department staffing contract with PeaceHealth and is fully owned by a single physician, Dr. Johne Philip Chapman. Chapman, Patel said, will be in charge of running the emergency departments and making all relevant clinical decisions, while ApolloMD will only provide "non-clinical administrative support," including billing and collections, HR and legal, recruiting, and data analysis.

Eugene Emergency Physicians is not buying it. The group wrote in its complaint that ApolloMD initially contracted with PeaceHealth directly and then set up a structure in which a friendly physician "was purportedly installed" to serve as the sole owner of Lane Emergency Physicians, the entity that would contract with ApolloMD's managed services organization. "This is exactly the business model that Oregon's corporate practice of medicine laws prohibit," the group wrote. The plaintiffs' attorneys add: "Notably not in control is Dr. Chapman," and allege that the "de facto" control ApolloMD exercises over Oregon operations violates the state's restrictions.

The lawsuit is the first civil suit filed under a 2023 Oregon law that gave physicians the power to sue over management agreements that impinge on their power to run medical practices and direct patient care, enacted to prevent independent clinics and practices from being purchased by larger national corporations and private equity firms. On June 9, 2025, Gov. Kotek also signed Senate Bill 951 into law, reinforcing and expanding Oregon's existing restrictions on the corporate practice of medicine, as well as the state's long-standing bar against non-licensed individuals and entities exercising influence or control over medical decision-making. The plaintiffs argue that Lane Emergency Physicians' structure and ApolloMD's involvement in hiring and clinical operations violate Senate Bill 951.

The lawsuit arrives amid a coordinated show of resistance that extends well beyond the courtroom. All 41 doctors and physician assistants at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield have pledged not to work with ApolloMD, an agreement that lasts for at least three months. Gov. Tina Kotek also wrote to PeaceHealth requesting a 180-day delay in the staffing transition, saying she wanted "adequate staffing with providers who reside in and are committed to the community" and more time to develop public understanding and restore trust. PeaceHealth Oregon Chief Hospital Executive James McGovern responded with a commitment to maintaining the original transition timeline, warning that delay "would create meaningful patient safety risk by undermining the stability and certainty required to safely operate emergency departments."

The plaintiffs expressed hope that the litigation, coupled with pressure from the governor and legislature, will force PeaceHealth to consider a more transparent and thoughtful path that complies with Oregon law. The complaint warns that without court intervention, plaintiffs will be "irreparably harmed by the decrease in quality of care caused by the corporatization of medicine, the disruption (or complete absence) of emergency care available to the community, and the usurpation of medical judgment of physicians providing emergency services."

The case is also an early legal test of the enhanced statute against corporate medicine that has become a model for other state legislatures, with corporations holding established health care businesses in Oregon given until 2029 to comply with the law. Lane Emergency Physicians LLC, registered in Oregon on Feb. 9, is a new entity and subject to the law's January 2026 compliance deadline, a timeline the plaintiffs argue makes the current arrangement not a future concern but an existing violation.