A sweeping bill that would expand reporting requirements related to sexual misconduct allegations against health care workers and impose fines for failure to report serious incidents gained initial approval from a House committee Wednesday.

The bill follows a Tribune investigation last year that exposed how Illinois health care systems failed to protect patients from sexual abuse and how state government failed to hold them accountable.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor, said during the hearing that the legislation will close a “critical gap” in communication and could “prevent dangerous behaviors from being hidden or left unaddressed within health care settings.” She referenced the Tribune investigation while presenting the initial version of the bill Wednesday.

The Tribune series identified multiple well-known Illinois health systems that had fielded allegations of sexual abuse but allowed those physicians, nurses and other workers to continue caring for patients. The reporting also exposed gaps in state oversight of the health care industry that left patients vulnerable to harm.

One story in the series revealed how Endeavor Health allowed obstetrician and gynecologist Fabio Ortega to continue seeing patients despite complaints about his conduct and after learning that he was under police investigation.

Ortega later pleaded guilty to felony criminal sexual abuse of two patients. The doctor was accused of abuse by dozens of former patients, and Endeavor Health has settled more than 75 lawsuits related to those allegations. In November the health system disclosed it was spending $453 million on “costs, expenses and settlement of claims” related to a doctor it did not name accused of sexually abusing patients.

Cassidy noted that while the legislature passed a bill last year that addressed one issue — a law that expanded which health care facilities must report patient abuse allegations to the Illinois Department of Public Health — “the problem goes well beyond that.”

The new bill would require that health professionals who witness or hear about sexual misconduct by health care workers to report it to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which oversees health care workers’ licenses, within 24 hours. Health institutions would also be required to report allegations of misconduct to IDFPR within 24 hours of initiating an investigation into alleged misconduct, or when a worker is terminated or resigns following an allegation of misconduct. It would impose fines of $25,000 to $75,000 for failure to report and then place that money into a sexual assault survivors fund.

The bill also expands reporting requirements for law enforcement, instructing law enforcement agencies to notify IDFPR within 30 days of opening an investigation into a licensed health care worker, arresting a health care worker or filing felony or serious misdemeanor charges against the person.

In December, the Tribune revealed that despite a law mandating prompt action when licensed health care workers are charged with certain criminal offenses, it often took the state weeks or months to require that the health professional only provide care under the supervision of a medical chaperone or for the state to take other action.

The bill is joint effort by IDFPR, IDPH and Gov. JB Pritzker’s office, along with Cassidy, she said. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association is currently in opposition to the bill, but the association’s senior vice president of government relations, David Gross, told committee members the group is working with the representative in coming to an agreement.

“What is not fleshed out yet is the role and responsibilities of the state and its agencies in ensuring prompt resolution to what could essentially be thousands of unfounded reports,” Gross said.

State Rep. William Hauter, a Republican from Morton, said he was in support of the effort but raised concerns about the bill. Hauter, who is an emergency medicine doctor and anesthesiologist, said health care workers often deal with patients with altered mental states.

“Our licenses, that’s a thing that we worked our whole life for, and to have that stain on there, even if it’s going to be investigated and removed, in some way I feel like it’s really putting a lot of health professionals at risk,” Hauter said.

Cassidy responded that she understands the concerns of health care providers, but also wants to ensure that the facilities and health systems are addressing and not hiding these issues.

“I want to make sure that we strike a better balance than we currently have,” she said.

The Health Care Licenses Committee voted 9-5 Wednesday in favor of the initial bill, but Cassidy said she planned to bring the matter back to the committee with an amendment before the bill moves to the House floor.

Tamara Holder, an attorney who represented many of the women who filed lawsuits against Ortega and Endeavor, said the bill would force more communication when it comes to allegations of sexual abuse against health care workers.

“Regardless of what the recipient thinks or feels about the information, it creates a legal duty to do something, which is to report it,” Holder said.

_____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.