Daywatch: Former patients say Endeavor Health failed to protect them from an abusive doctor
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Good morning, Chicago.
As Victoria stepped into Dr. Fabio Ortega’s exam room in the summer of 2017, she had no idea the gynecologist’s career was hurtling toward destruction.
Nobody at NorthShore University HealthSystem, now called Endeavor Health, told Victoria that Ortega was under police investigation, according to a lawsuit she later filed.
“That’s what angers me the most, is NorthShore knew,” Victoria said. “They could have done something.”
At least 30 women have filed lawsuits alleging that Ortega sexually assaulted them during appointments over a span of three decades at various Endeavor locations and, before that, at Swedish Hospital in Chicago. Most of the lawsuits allege that Endeavor and Swedish either knew or should have known that Ortega was a danger to patients. They contend the health system failed to protect them.
Now a Tribune investigation has pieced together the fullest picture yet of Ortega’s troubled history with patients and Endeavor’s pivotal role in keeping the doctor in place, with access to vulnerable female patients, despite multiple complaints.
Read Part 3 of our investigation.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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