The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners is seeking immediate suspension of the medical license of Dr. Michael Dick, the Decatur doctor who was convicted last month on three counts of harassment involving female patients.

Dick was arrested in January after former patients filed warrants against him for harassment they said occurred while he was treating them at his practice. He continued to see patients after his arrest.

The Board has been investigating allegations against Dick since February. At law enforcement’s request, the Board delayed official action against Dick until the criminal case was resolved, according to a Board press release.

“The last thing the (Board) wants to do is compromise a criminal investigation by one of our law enforcement partners,” said Wilson Hunter, general counsel for the Board, in a statement. “With that issue settled, it has cleared the way for the (Board) to move forward with filing charges and immediately suspending Dr. Dick’s medical license.”

After Dick was found guilty on one charge of harassment last month, he entered guilty pleas on the other two counts, with the stipulation that he would appeal the case in Morgan County Circuit Court. He will remain out of jail while the convictions are on appeal. Those convictions did not prevent him from practicing medicine.

Dick has denied all accusations of inappropriate behavior.

In a specially-called meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Medical Examiners began the process of recommending suspension of Dick’s medical license. The Board also asked for the immediate suspension of Dick’s license until a formal hearing can be held.

The Alabama Medical Licensure Commission is the body that would make the decision whether or not to suspend Dick’s medical license. If the Commission decides to suspend the license, Dick would not be able to practice medicine in Alabama. That means he could not see patients or prescribe controlled substances.

The Board suspension charges followed a “lengthy investigation by the agency into allegations of sexual misconduct,” according to a press release from the Board.

The suspension could be considered as early as the Commission’s next scheduled meeting on Oct. 24.

The patients who brought harassment charges against Dick described behaviors including kissing them on the mouth, touching them inappropriately and telling them they were beautiful.

One of the women who said Dick kissed her told AL.com in May that she’d gone to Dick’s practice for treatment, not knowing that another woman had filed a police report about Dick’s behavior a month earlier.

Dick was also arrested in 2011 for harassment related to his treatment of a female patient, but the charge was later dropped.

He’s currently being sued by 10 women for sexual misconduct and harassment.

When the Board files a complaint, it will go in Dick’s publicly-available record on the Board’s website. The Board keeps details of investigations confidential, but the complaint included allegations of inappropriate physical contact with patients “with no legitimate medical purpose."

Hunter said the Board encourages patients to report inappropriate behavior on its website, www.albme.org. State law prevents retaliation against patients.

“Obviously, we can’t be in every exam room with every patient," said Hunter, “but if a physician takes advantage of the doctor-patient relationship we want to know about it.”