On Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, protestors gathered in opposition of the looming closure of PeaceHealth’s University District location. The group participated in a 20 minute “die-in” while community members spoke about the potential impact this closure would have on Eugene. (Lulu Devoulin/Emerald)

Nearly 150 Eugene residents and hospital staff of all ages scattered themselves about the corner of Hilyard Avenue and 13th St. The protestors covered themselves in tablecloths, blankets, garbage bags and white sheets strikingly reminiscent of body bags.
While protesters lay across the sidewalk, hundreds more supporters passed by honking horns, interrupting speakers with messages of encouragement and support.
At noon on Oct. 13, the Oregon Nurses Association held a “Die-In” protest against the recent closure of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart University District’s emergency services department. Amongst the hundreds of people who attended the demonstration was James Manning Jr., president pro tempore of the Oregon State Senate.
“The public needs to know that there is intervention taking place on behalf of the citizens here in Eugene,” Manning said.
“People are going to die” due to a lack of transportation, Manning said.
Manning further demanded action from Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, saying “Today I stand with OSH [Oregon State Hospital] calling on PeaceHealth, the Oregon Health Authority and Governor Kotek to reverse and intervene in this disastrous decision to close the hospital.” Manning further stated that legislators “are limited” in their influence, “but our governor is not.”
Many Eugene residents expressed their concerns that the 15 minute ambulance commute to River Bend Hospital in Springfield would be too long in the case of a serious medical emergency.
“Any sort of alcohol or drug overdose patient is going to have a hard time making it up the freeway, over on BeltLine, to Riverbend [Hospital],” Todd Shorack, a lifelong Eugene resident, said. “People are going to die, they’re just not going to make it.”
When PeaceHealth announced the closure of the hospital on Aug. 22, it cited losing nearly $2 million dollars a month as a primary reason for closure.
“All the other countries in the world that have some form of publicly funded health care, they don’t close hospitals. They run into problems, [but] they give [those] hospitals or clinics [the] support they need,” Lou Sinniger, a Health Care for All Oregon representative, said. “This hospital told the lung report when they announced this, that Riverbend was profitable. But Riverbend also owns this hospital. So why didn’t they take some of those profits and put it into this hospital?”
On Oct. 10, PeaceHealth announced that it would be moving the PeaceHealth West Eugene Urgent Care Clinic to the University District Campus where the hospital is currently located. This is an effort to provide more centrally located healthcare to UO students and all Eugene residents in the absence of the hospital. If all hospital closure plans follow through, the urgent care clinic is expected to move to University District in December 2023 following minor renovation on the ground floor of the PeaceHealth building.
“When we have a Cascadia incident that disrupts services or takes out  [Interstate] Five, where do the people that I represent here in the great city of Eugene, where do they go? We don’t need more urgent care, we need this hospital open,” Manning said in response to the announcement that the urgent care clinic would be moving.