Palatine police accuse physician’s assistant of sexual abuse

A Cook County judge set bail at $35,000 Thursday for a 48-year-old physician’s assistant charged with sexually abusing a patient last year at a Palatine health care center.

Alejandro Sanchez, of the 1500 block of Gunderson Avenue in Berwyn, was arrested Wednesday at the center and charged with one count of criminal sexual abuse. The charge is a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison, or probation, if he is convicted.

Police received a complaint Oct. 27, 2010 from a 38-year-old woman who had been the defendant’s patient for several years, said Cook County State’s Attorney spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

The complaining witness went to the Vista Health Center, located at 1585 N. Rand Road, on Oct. 10, 2010 for a checkup, during which the defendant “began fondling and pulling on her breasts in an aggressive manner,” Simonton said.

The woman reported that while her breasts were exposed she saw Sanchez reach into his chest pocket where he kept his phone, Simonton said. The woman stated that she believed the defendant was attempting to photograph her.

After the exam, the woman said she ran from the room crying and encountered a witness to whom she reported what happened, Simonton said.

The defendant, who has no criminal background, admitted to a Palatine police detective that he considered taking a photograph but that he did not, Simonton said.

Vista Health Center offers primary, pediatric and internal medicine health care services provided by the Ambulatory and Community Health Network of Cook County. It is a partnership between Northwest Community Hospital and the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

Northwest Community Hospital spokesman Blaine Krage said while the hospital owns the building, it does not employ the physicians or physician’s assistants who work there.

“We provide funding for other staff members and supplies, but Cook County does hire the physicians that work there,” he said.

A spokesman for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services could not be reached immediately.

Sanchez, who is a state licensed physician’s assistant since 1991, has never been disciplined, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s website.

“When the department learns of potential violations of the Medical Practice Act, it immediately launches an investigation,” IDPR spokeswoman Susan Hofer said Thursday.

The department usually is asked to defer any disciplinary action pending a criminal investigation, Hofer added.

Sanchez next appears in court on April 14.