Former Oregon Medical Group doctor calls recent doctor departures and patient dismissal a “slow burn” | News [Video]

EUGENE, Ore. – In the wake of recent reports of people across Lane County receiving letters from Oregon Medical Group notifying them of their dismissal as patients, or their doctors leaving the primary care group, one doctor is speaking out.

Dr. Nick Jones worked at Oregon Medical Group (OMG) between 2020 and 2023. He and OMG parted ways in November of 2023, and he pursued his dream of opening his own direct primacy care clinic. However, he said it wasn’t hard to notice some compounding pressures OMG was facing — stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the resignation of healthcare workers across the country and the purchase of OMG by Optum. Jones called it a slow burn leading to doctors leaving and patients being dropped in recent weeks.

“I want to distinguish the corporate part of this has more to do with the inflexibility, with the loss of control over hiring, …