GRMC Supports a Compromise for Malpractice Reform

(Friday, June 27, 2025; Dededo, Guam) – At Guam Regional Medical City (GRMC), we care deeply about making
healthcare better for our community. This includes holding ourselves accountable and ensuring that patients
who experienced injury have access to a fair and timely resolution.

We support a balanced approach to improve our island’s medical malpractice system, and we respect the
Legislature’s intent to strengthen access to justice. However, Bill 82 is not the solution. As written, the bill will
make it harder to recruit and retain good doctors, destabilize Guam’s tenuous insurance market, raise
healthcare costs for patients, and strain our judicial system. All these unintended consequences will worsen
access to care and deepen the healthcare divide within our community.

Why this matters for our community
GRMC fully supports accountability as one of our core values. When a patient is harmed, there must be a fair
process to make things right. We also believe that the process should be timely, affordable, and focused on
helping patients heal—not tied up in years of legal battles.

Right now, Guam uses arbitration to handle most malpractice cases. It’s not perfect, but arbitration – when
designed and administered fairly – has been shown to provide faster results, with more of the compensation
going directly to the patient instead of being spent on legal fees. Moving everything into the court system – as
Bill 82 does – would likely make the process slower, more expensive, and harder on everyone involved. All these
additional costs will ultimately be passed on to patients, their families, and taxpayers.

A fragile insurance market could get worse
Another big concern is the effect Bill 82 will have on our insurance companies that provide malpractice coverage.
These companies are already extremely limited on Guam. If the law makes things riskier and more expensive
for them, they will certainly need to raise their prices dramatically, or at worse, leave the island entirely. That
would increase the cost of delivering care and severely impair the island’s ability to recruit much needed
specialists. We need to prioritize solutions that lower costs, rather than raise them and provide more healthcare
professionals for patients to choose from.

Let’s come together and find a better solution
We know the goal of the proposed bill is to help patients—and GRMC supports that. We also believe there are
better ways to get there. Guam needs a balanced approach that protects patients, supports doctors who are
doing the right thing, and keeps healthcare stable, accessible, and affordable.

This issue has come up many times over the years, often dividing people. Our hope is that we can finally come
together and end that cycle. Instead of pushing through a law that could make things worse, let’s come
together—patients, doctors, insurance companies, lawmakers, and community leaders—and work out a lasting
solution that preserves our healthcare system and provides patients and their families access to justice.

For more information, please contact:
Eric L. Plinske, GRMC Chief Business Development Officer
(671) 645-5579
eric.plinske@grmc.gu