CARBONDALE - Memorial Hospital of Carbondale has recruited a new brain surgeon to open a practice nearly one year to the day the hospital's two former neurosurgeons announced a hostile medical malpractice climate in the state was driving them out.

Hospital administrator George Maroney said Thursday, after several weeks of discussion, Dr. Allan Gocio, a licensed neurosurgeon currently practicing in St. Louis, has decided to re-open a neurosurgery practice in Carbondale. The practice will open in April under the name Neurological Surgeons of Southern Illinois.

Gocio is believed to be the only practicing brain surgeon in Illinois south of Interstate 64. He is coming into a malpractice environment Maroney said still needs to be addressed at the state or national levels.

Gocio, who received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, practiced neurosurgery in Arkansas and in Cape Girardeau, Mo. before moving to St. Louis, Maroney said. His qualifications look good, he added.

"You don't always find a doctor that is highly skilled and pleasant to deal with, which I think we've found in Dr. Gocio," Maroney said.

Finding someone to rebuild the neurosurgery department left shattered last year by the departure of Dr. Sumeer Lal and Dr. B. Theo Mellion seemed impossible just a few months ago, Maroney acknowledged.

"I didn't think we'd be able to do it this rapidly," he said.

Maroney has been attempting to recruit brain surgeons under the pall of high medical malpractice premiums doctors experience in Illinois. For the past year political, medical and legal officials have pointed fingers and argued over a solution to the state's crisis.

None have come to light so far in the state legislature, which has prompted President George W. Bush to pursue a medical malpractice solution nationally by largely placing restrictions on trial attorneys who file medical negligence cases.

Opponents of Bush's idea say solving malpractice will require a more comprehensive plan, putting rules on lawyers, doctors and insurance companies.

Maroney said Carbondale's problems are not over yet, where medical accessibility is concerned.

"Our legislators, our governor, our president; they all need to do their jobs," he said. "I don't want anyone to get the impression the crisis is over. This is the first building block. To say we've got neurosurgery established again, we do and we don't."

One person will not rebuild what Memorial Hospital once had in the neurosurgery department and as a new doctor, Gocio won't be on call 365 days a year, Maroney said.

Gocio knows what type of climate he is stepping into, Maroney said.

"People that know me realize I'm not very subtle," Maroney said. "The last thing I want to do is recruit a physician under false pretenses.

"You have to be very candid about these situations. I asked (Gocio), 'You know we have a medical malpractice problem?' He said 'Yes, I do.'"

Gocio is no stranger to the medical malpractice issue. He comes from a state that is also attempting to address the issue and records show he supported a political action committee there that aimed to address the malpractice crisis.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich does not support caps on jury awards but has called for legislators to address medical malpractice this spring.

Gocio was unavailable for comment.

Maroney said Gocio seems positive about moving to Southern Illinois, despite the malpractice climate. He is coming here, Maroney said, with expectations that things will get better and that the hospital will have the opportunity to rebuild its neurosurgery unit.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com 618-529-5454 x15090