PeaceHealth Oregon’s top executive has been placed on leave in light of allegations he violated the scope of his administrative license and attempted to dictate patient care that went against providers’ clinical judgment.

Jim McGovern, who became chief executive in 2024, doesn’t have a medical license to practice in Oregon. He has an administrative license. Yet, KLCC has learned that for years, McGovern has been emailing directives to clinicians on how to care for patients, along with dismissals of treatment and refusal to respond to staffing issues.

KLCC has received copies of emails sent by McGovern to emergency physicians and nurse practitioners between Aug. 16, 2022 and Oct. 9, 2025, some of which question providing beds to patients or dictate patient care against the emergency physician’s judgement, such as whether to order an MRI.

At a special meeting Wednesday night, PeaceHealth medical staff passed two resolutions — the first called for the removal of McGovern from his position. That happened Thursday night. The second resolution calls for reversal of the decision to replace Eugene Emergency Physicians with ApolloMD.

On Feb. 4, PeaceHealth announced it had opened a request for proposal and chosen Atlanta-based, management service organization ApolloMD to replace EEP, ending a 35-year contract with the locally owned, democratic physicians’ group. PeaceHealth RiverBend medical staff were not included in the RFP process. McGovern told KLCC that medical staff had no say in the matter and the decision was his to make.

On Feb. 23, 2026, PeaceHealth medical staff voted “no confidence” in McGovern and Chief Medical Officer Kim Ruscher.

In a statement released Thursday evening, PeaceHealth said it will proceed with its plans to transition emergency services, and that “the decision to change emergency department physician management partners in Lane County...was never a decision made by one individual.” PeaceHealth also stated that McGovern will remain on leave, pending a full review.

McGovern started at PeaceHealth in 2019. He moved from chief medical officer to chief hospital executive of PeaceHealth Oregon in 2024.

In response to the announcement of McGovern’s removal, RiverBend Medical Center Chief of Staff Dr. Will Emerson said his medical staff is dedicated to the community and will do everything in their power to protect patient safety, including standing up to anyone who “gets in their way.”

“I believe at this time the medical staff is unified in a way that I don’t recall seeing before,” Emerson said. “But also, there are major concerns, because if the decision to cut EEP is forced through, I would expect a significant amount of attrition on the medical staff. We’ve already had some, but I think morale would be at the lowest point imaginable.”

Tiffany Eckert is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/10/peacehealth-oregon-top-executive-jim-mcgovern-administrative-leave/