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St. Clair County Group Calls for Malpractice Reform

By Matt Sepic, KWMU

Belleville, Ill – Community leaders in St. Clair county, Illinois Monday joined with area attorneys and doctors to discuss what they called a crisis in access to health care.

The group says physicians are fleeing the area in record numbers because of malpractice insurance rates that are among the highest in Illinois, and rising.

St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic said the coalition is broad-based, and wants solutions from everyone.

"You will see that the group that surrounds us is very diverse," Baricevic said. "It is Republican, it is Democrat, it is plaintiffs' lawyers, it is defense lawyers. It is doctors, it is hospitals, it is insurance companies."

Harry Maier, president of Belleville Memorial Hospital, says about 30 doctors have left the hospital in the past year.

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