RiverBend faces nearly $500,000 in proposed state fines over staffing complaints

PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend is facing nearly $500,000 in proposed state fines, a sign that staffing complaints at one of Lane County’s most important hospitals have moved from isolated grievances to a broader challenge over safety on the floor. For Springfield and Eugene families who depend on RiverBend for emergency and specialty care, the stakes are immediate: when nurse assignments grow too heavy, waits can stretch, workloads rise and patient safety can slip.

The Oregon Health Authority’s Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement Program is processing dozens of complaints against the hospital, including two earlier violations that RiverBend already paid for. Those complaints centered on the neonatal intensive care unit, where nurses were left caring for more patients than was considered safe, leading to $16,000 in fines last year. PeaceHealth has said the specific NICU staffing shortage cited in those cases has not happened again, but the larger set of proposed penalties remains in play.

The complaints land in a hospital system that carries outsized regional responsibility. RiverBend is the only Level II trauma center between Corvallis and the California border, which is why staffing changes there draw attention well beyond Springfield. In May, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Rep. Val Hoyle urged PeaceHealth to pause a separate emergency-department staffing change, warning it could affect patient care, workforce retention and the hospital’s role as the region’s primary trauma center.

That warning followed months of conflict over how emergency care is staffed. In April, the Oregon Nurses Association said it delivered a petition with nearly 7,000 signatures opposing PeaceHealth’s plan to contract with ApolloMD for emergency department staffing. In June 2024, RiverBend nurses accused PeaceHealth of imposing a staffing plan without a vote from the committee that is supposed to be split evenly between management and frontline workers. PeaceHealth said then that it was complying with the new requirements and would keep working with the committee.

Oregon’s nurse staffing law has existed for roughly 25 years, but Governor Tina Kotek added financial penalties in 2023, giving the state a sharper enforcement tool. OHA says hospital staffing enforcement is complaint-driven, and hospitals must submit approved nurse, professional/technical and services staffing plans after committee approval. HB 2697 took effect on Sept. 1, 2023, staffing-plan requirements began June 1, 2024, and civil penalties for certain violations began June 1, 2025. OHA also says valid hospital staffing complaints must be filed within 60 days of the alleged violation, which makes each staffing dispute at RiverBend a matter of timing as much as policy.