(710 ILCS 45/405)
(This Section was added by P.A. 94-677, which has been held unconstitutional)
Sec. 405. Sorry Works! pilot program. The Sorry Works! pilot program is established. During the first year of the program's operation, participation in the program shall be open to one hospital. Hospitals may participate only with the approval of the hospital administration and the hospital's organized medical staff. During the second year of the program's operation, participation in the program shall be open to one additional hospital.
The first participating hospital selected by the committee established under Section 410 shall be located in a county with a population greater than 200,000 that is contiguous with the Mississippi River.
Under the program, participating hospitals and physicians shall promptly acknowledge and apologize for mistakes in patient care and promptly offer fair settlements. Participating hospitals shall encourage patients and families to retain their own legal counsel to ensure that their rights are protected and to help facilitate negotiations for fair settlements. Participating hospitals shall report to the committee their total costs for healing art malpractice verdicts, settlements, and defense litigation for the preceding 5 years to enable the committee to determine average costs for that hospital during that period. The committee shall develop standards and protocols to compare costs for cases handled by traditional means and cases handled under the Sorry Works! protocol.
If the committee determines that the total costs of cases handled under the Sorry Works! protocol by a hospital participating in the program exceed the total costs that would have been incurred if the cases had been handled by traditional means, the hospital may apply for a grant from the Sorry Works! Fund, a special fund that is created in the State Treasury, for an amount, as determined by the committee, by which the total costs exceed the total costs that would have been incurred if the cases had been handled by traditional means; however, the total of all grants from the Fund for cases in any single participating hospital in any year may not exceed the amount in the Fund or $2,000,000, whichever is less. All grants shall be subject to appropriation. Moneys in the Fund shall consist of funds transferred into the Fund or otherwise made available from any source.
(Source: P.A. 94-677, eff. 8-25-05.)
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Last modified: February 18, 2015