Dr. Fabio Ortega was a trusted gynecologist at Chicago’s NorthShore University HealthSystem who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two of his female patients, receiving a three-year prison sentence in 2021.

Since his criminal case came to light, dozens of women have stepped forward to say they too were his victims. In a string of lawsuits, they’ve accused the hospital chain — now known as Endeavor Health — of allowing Ortega to continue working despite patient complaints about his behavior.

In a yearlong investigation, Tribune reporters Lisa Schencker and Emily Hoerner uncovered multiple instances where local health care systems let medical providers keep working after patients had accused them of sexual misconduct. In all, the Tribune identified 52 health care workers accused of abusing patients in Illinois over the last decade.

“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,” the Tribune reported on Feb. 18. “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.”

Practically everyone is familiar with the disgusting case of Dr. Larry Nassar, the Michigan State University-affiliated predator whose white coat enabled him to sexually assault gymnasts for years under the guise of treatment. But not everyone realizes how difficult it is to bring predatory doctors to justice.

The Tribune’s reporting builds on a 2016 investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution showing how the medical establishment time and again favored doctors over patients in sex-abuse cases. Physician-dominated state medical boards across the country were found to be handing out second chances like vitamin pills, routinely agreeing to confidential settlements or otherwise working to keep allegations private.

At the same time, the investigation showed, law enforcement sometimes treated accused doctors with deference. Prosecutors faced with wealthy, lawyered-up defendants would reduce or dismiss charges, allowing doctors guilty of misconduct to stay off sex-offender registries.

The Tribune’s reporting goes beyond doctors to show how some nurses, technicians and other medical providers similarly took advantage of vulnerable patients while their employers worked to keep allegations under wraps.

The Tribune found that many allegations were not reported to law enforcement or, as required, to the state. It is no stretch to conclude that most instances of sexual misconduct by medical providers in Illinois are likely to remain secret, while many of the abusers continue working in the same settings that enabled the abuse in the first place.

What to do? One of the Tribune’s most startling findings was the failure to implement an Illinois law enacted nearly 20 years ago that might have helped to make a difference.

The legislation approved in 2005 was meant to address the worst health care incidents, such as mistakenly leaving an item inside a body during surgery — or the sex abuse of a patient. The Illinois Department of Public Health was supposed to create a reporting system so hospitals and surgery centers could identify the causes of these incidents and work together to prevent them in the future.

The system was intended to be operational by 2008, with annual reports to follow. Minnesota has had a similar system running since 2005.

Illinois has failed to make progress. Almost 20 years after the legislation was voted into law, the state still has no reporting system. It hasn’t published a single one of the required annual reports. That’s inexcusable.

A spokesman for the state health department blamed a lack of funding, a series of failed bids to build the reporting system and the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s sure to be a comfort to those experiencing sexual misconduct at the hands of medical providers while the state dithers.

Today, we call on the state’s large hospital chains, privately owned clinics and the Chicago-based American Medical Association to start living up to their self-proclaimed commitments to prevent sexual misconduct.

They are in the best position to take effective action against predators in their midst. So far, however, we see a disturbing pattern of resistance to any solution requiring them to act swiftly and decisively when patients report sex abuse.

In the short run, coming clean about abusers they employ may indeed damage their reputations and invite litigation. But they’re playing with dynamite. Consider the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America and Michigan State, among other institutions accused of covering up sexual assaults.

A sex-abuse scandal and failed cover-up could devastate any one of Illinois’ world-class medical institutions. Those responsible owe it to their organizations, and to the vulnerable patients they serve, to stop putting Band-Aids over this festering wound.