Emily Hoerner

Emily Hoerner is an investigative reporter who works with data. She covers issues involving public health matters, health care systems and education. She previously covered judges, prisons, policing and criminal justice at Injustice Watch.

Anna Vargas, shown in her room at a Glenview nursing home this month, had a private guardian for a time after being hospitalized in 2023. She is now under the care of the Cook County public guardian. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

When hospitals choose private guardians, patients pay the price

November 30, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

When Chicago hospitals seek guardians for patients with assets, a law firm and a private care management organization get nearly all the business.

Gary Brown, shown in October, said he was taken by surprise when Northwestern Memorial Hospital filed a petition to place his father, Gary Ellis, under guardianship of the state. Ellis died before the family could regain control. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago hospitals funnel patients into long-lasting guardianships, angering friends and family

December 1, 2025 at 9:10 a.m.

Chicago-area hospitals recently initiated hundreds of guardianship petitions in just 18 months, a Chicago Tribune investigation has found.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy speaks during a hearing of the Ethics and Elections Committee on April 10, 2024, at the Stratton Building in Springfield. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Lawmakers vote in favor of bill addressing sexual misconduct in health care, following Tribune report

March 19, 2025 at 5:08 p.m.

Lawmakers vote in favor of bill expanding reporting requirements related to sexual misconduct in health care, following Tribune investigation.

The former NorthShore office of Dr. Fabio Ortega in Lincolnwood on Feb.13, 2024. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Endeavor Health settles final 23 pending cases involving former gynecologist Dr. Fabio Ortega, accused of sexually abusing patients

February 19, 2025 at 4:13 p.m.

Endeavor Health has settled the last batch of pending suits filed against it by patients who alleged abuse by Dr. Fabio Ortega.

The 76-year-old woman sexually assaulted by nurse David Giurgiu in 2018 at Glenbrook Hospital had been taken to the emergency department with a broken femur. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Medical misconduct: Read the investigation on sexual abuse by providers

February 19, 2025 at 4:12 p.m.

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.

Arlington Heights plastic surgeon John Kotis, center, was charged in May 2023 with disorderly conduct and battery involving a patient. The state did not issue an order requiring him to work with a chaperone until three months later. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Criminally charged health care providers keep working unrestricted as state action lags

December 18, 2024 at 9:12 a.m.

Illinois health care workers charged with serious crimes were allowed to keep caring for patients for months without restrictions, the Tribune found.

Man in critical condition after Lincoln Park shooting Wednesday

November 28, 2024 at 8:52 a.m.

Following an altercation, a 34-year-old man was wounded by gunfire in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Dr. Fabio Ortega, shown in March 2023 during a civil proceeding at the Daley Center, pleaded guilty in 2021 to sexually abusing two former patients. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Endeavor Health is spending up to $453 million to settle patients’ claims that a former doctor sexually abused them

November 18, 2024 at 9:18 p.m.

Endeavor and Swedish Hospital are currently facing 61 lawsuits brought by former patients of gynecologist-obstetrician Dr. Fabio Ortega accusing him of sexually abusing them.

Abbott Laboratories in north suburban Abbott Park in 2018. Parents have filed more than 670 lawsuits in state and federal court alleging that Abbott and Mead Johnson's specialized, cow’s-milk based products for preterm infants caused their babies to develop a life-threatening intestinal disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and that the companies failed to warn them about the risks of giving their formulas to very small, premature infants. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds of lawsuits allege Abbott Laboratories’ formula for premature infants made babies sick. But is the formula to blame?

November 3, 2024 at 10:17 a.m.

Parents have filed lawsuits in federal court in Chicago, the Circuit Court of Cook County and others across the country, alleging Abbott Laboratories’ formula for premature infants made babies sick.

Court filings show a Dolton home rented to Mayor Tiffany Henyard is late on rent payments, eviction threatened. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard faces eviction in spat with landlord

September 30, 2024 at 2:58 p.m.

Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard's landlord claims she is behind on rent and he is trying to evict her, court records show.

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