Skip to main content

Turmoil at PeaceHealth Could Lead to Changes in 2016

Not only have seven key members of its executive team left, but PeaceHealth was also hit recently with a multi-million judgment.
December 28, 2015

Since Beth O'Brien became the chief operating officer at PeaceHealth, six members of its executive team have been terminated, while the health system lost a multi-million dollar lawsuit in late October.

A Lane County jury returned a $12.2 million judgement against PeaceHealth and its physicians after a patient was given 18 times the prescribed dose of a powerful medication causing brain damage, according to the Register Guard.

There’s also been speculation about a potential merger between PeaceHealth and Providence Health & Services after Elizabeth Dunne, its president, signed a letter of intent to collaborate on a health initiative project. Next year, the health systems intend to open a health and wellness center in Vancouver. 

Earlier Dunne told the media, “This is not a merger. This is not an acquisition. This is truly a strategic affiliation and partnership in the communities that we are already serving.”

Meanwhile, the executives who lost their jobs at PeaceHealth include:

  • Alan Yordy, President, CEO and Chief Mission Officer
  • Tricia Roscoe, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation and Development
  • Elaine Dunda, Senior Vice President, Clinical Value
  • John Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Oregon West Network
  • Kevin Wahlstrom, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
  • Ryan Ball, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
  • Dr. Howard Graman, Chief Executive Officer, PeaceHealth Medical Group,
  • Sy Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Network

In all, PeaceHealth has 16,000 employees — about 5,900 of them in Lane County. It runs 10 hospitals, an 800-provider group practice and laboratory system in Alaska, Washington and Oregon.

An earlier story in The Lund Report indicated that PeaceHealth launched a plan to boost its core earnings by $130 million during the current fiscal year. It eliminated the equivalent of 500 positions through layoffs and formed a partnership with The Vancouver Clinic to become more attractive to insurance companies.

Diane can be reached at [email protected].

Comments