Morris A. Kugler was born on February 7, 1939 in Belleville, IL and grew up in Okawville, IL. He prepared for a life of service in medicine, attending Southern Illinois University, graduating from medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago, completing his internship in general surgery at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, and training and becoming a flight surgeon in the USAF at Brooks AFB, serving in Vietnam, and Scott AFB. He completed his general surgery residency at Hines VA, becoming the Chief Resident. He received a Master of Science in Medical Management from the University of Texas Southwestern in 2001.
Dr. Kugler spent over five decades as a physician and surgeon, caring for patients, with a career notable for both service and innovation. He was one of the leading founders of Southern Illinois Health Care Association (SICHA), a physician initiated and owned managed care organization; he lead the creation of the Southern Illinois Medical Alliance for the Survival of Health Care (SMASH), a political action committee that addressed problems in the Illinois court system that had led to skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates and an exodus of physicians from Southern Illinois, and was the lead physician for this organization during its early and most productive years; he started the Southern Illinois Surgical Consultants, a private general surgery practice that made for an increase in access to general and vascular surgical care in the Metro East area; he started the Breast Center in Belleville and Maryville, that brought to these communities contemporary care for women with breast cancer; he has been Chief of Surgery at Belleville Memorial, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah Georgia, and most recently in Sparta, Illinois; he was a staff physician at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Memorial Hospital in Belleville, and at Anderson Hospital in Maryville; he assisted in the initiation of the Bellville Family Practice Residency Program and was a Clinical Professor of Community Medicine with St. Louis University School of Medicine; he has participated in published research, including accelerated partial breast irradiation, and work in the lack of necessity for the completion of auxiliary node dissection.
Dr. Kugler was co-founder of the St. Louis Vascular Society, President of the C.B. Puestow Surgical Society, President of the Illinois Surgical Society, President of the Southern Illinois Medical Association, President of the St. Clair County Medical Society, and he restarted the Madison and Randolph/Monroe County Medical Societies when they were inactive.
Dr. Kugler was awarded the Bronze star for work while in Vietnam. Twice he was named the outstanding teacher at the Southern Illinois University Family Practice Residency. He was given the St. Clair County Medical Society Wilson J. West Award. He has received the Illinois Rural Health Association Physician of Excellence Award, and the Southern Illinois Medical Association Favorite Son Award.
Dr. Kugler has personally inspired, and recruited doctors, health care workers, and community leaders from around Illinois to address problems that have led to the reduced availability of physicians in central and southern Illinois. This includes addressing the court system of Illinois, thought by many to be unbalanced in malpractice awards. He helped lead the political initiative to elect Justice Lloyd Karmeier to the Illinois Supreme court, to not retain a sitting Appellate Court Judge, and to promote passage of the legislative initiative for Tort Reform. In addition, Dr. Kugler played a key role in the successful ten-year retention vote for Justice Karmeier.
Dr. Kugler spent the last three years of his career as a general surgeon in Sparta, Illinois, where he recognized the problem of physician shortages in a rural area. He responded by spearheading the effort to join together clinicians, hospital administrators, medical school and residency program officials, and members of the state legislature to address the difficulty in recruiting and retaining doctors in rural Illinois.
Dr. Kugler has done these things with humor, integrity, and self-sacrifice in his personal effort with time and resources. Dr. Kugler’s leadership is unparalleled in our era of the Southern Illinois Medical Association, and perhaps the history of SIMA.
Given the extraordinary effectiveness of his service and leadership, it seems appropriate that we not only honor Dr. Kugler in a unique way, but that we promote the values and qualities of leadership demonstrated by him that would benefit our physicians and communities in years to come. The Southern Illinois Medical Association therefore is creating a new award in Dr. Kugler’s name, to be awarded to a physician from one of the counties of the Southern Illinois Medical Association that has served or serves as a special advocate for physicians, and or access to physicians.