Legal, Liability and Interview Requests

Liability Insurance and Legal Requests

The employing hospitals provide professional liability insurance for residents and fellows during their training. The policies are a minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence and cover any professional acts performed within the scope of training, whether filed during or after completion of training. If they need information about their coverage or need to request malpractice / claims verification, they contact the Risk Management office of their employing hospital, with the exception of Springfield based residents/fellows (see below). The insuring hospital in Springfield is based on the site of occurrence, so both hospitals share coverage for all trainees.

The Guidelines for When Legal Papers are Served on Campus should be referenced in addition to this information.

Malpractice Verification:

  • Due to insurance coverage potentially changing from year to year (providers, etc), the hospitals can’t simply send information on the insurance company, coverage amount, dates of coverage, etc.
  • The hospital researches the coverage for the dates of training and constructs a letter that reviews all previous coverage and any claims.
    • If the resident is the one requesting the information for future employment, the hospital will send the letter directly to the resident and ask them to keep the original for future verifications.
  • Springfield residents:  Since residents have separate insurance at each hospital, requests for malpractice verification must be sent to both entities, regardless of the employer.

Click here for the risk management contact information for each affiliated hospital.

Request for a Resident Interview from other Agencies

A program may be contacted by an outside agency requesting to set up an interview with a resident regarding a patient that was seen at the hospital. Examples of agencies are the IL Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), law enforcement agencies, advocacy agencies, etc. Prior to setting up an interview, the appropriate risk management office should be contacted and provided with information regarding the request. The representative will assess the situation and determine how to proceed. 

Click here for risk management contact information for each affiliated hospital.