Over the course of a yearlong investigation, the Tribune found that well-known Illinois health systems have allowed workers accused of abusing patients to keep providing care.
The failures to respond adequately to abuse allegations had devastating consequences for the victims, who felt betrayed by medical systems they had trusted with their health and safety.
While some medical systems in other states have reckoned publicly with their failures, Illinois health care providers have quietly settled lawsuits, entered into confidentiality agreements with patients and often refused to acknowledge wrongdoing.
Patients reported sexual abuse by medical providers. Health care systems let them keep working.
Tribune reporters identified allegations of patient sexual abuse in Illinois by obtaining and reviewing thousands of pages of medical board disciplinary findings, arrest records, police reports, Illinois Department of Public Health investigations, civil and criminal court documents and by analyzing state data. The Tribune filed 50 Freedom of Information Act requests and conducted more than three dozen interviews.
In all, the Tribune identified 52 health care workers accused of sexual misconduct with patients in Illinois over the last decade. At least 27 of those workers faced allegations from multiple patients in recent years, the Tribune found. The true numbers are almost certainly higher, since many allegations are not reported to law enforcement or to the state. Read part one of our investigation.
Failure to protect: Flawed state oversight lets doctors accused of abuse continue to see patients
Doctors and other health care providers accused by patients of sexual misconduct kept practicing – sometimes for years – because of gaps in Illinois laws and a licensing agency that can be slow to take disciplinary action, a Tribune investigation has found.
The providers went on to harm additional patients, in some cases, as their licenses remained in good standing with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Read part two of our investigation.
Help the Chicago Tribune report on medical misconduct
The Tribune hopes to continue reporting on how hospitals and other medical institutions respond when patients report instances of sexual misconduct by health care providers. If you have information to share, please fill out this form. Responses will not be published without your permission.
Emily Hoerner, Lisa Schencker
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