Gov. Tom Corbett, while serving as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, compiled a commendable record attacking corruption and illegal campaign practices in Harrisburg.

Commendably, his efforts didn’t focus on just one of the political parties, but both. And, more prosecutions involving high-profile politicians from both of the parties lie ahead, stemming from his work.

State residents, feeling upbeat about what he was able to accomplish in his former role, are hopeful that he will record major accomplishments as the commonwealth’s chief executive — such as leading the way in solving the state’s fiscal dilemma.

Pennsylvania residents had cause for optimism last week that Corbett’s tenure as governor will not be consumed strictly by money and legislative issues and politics, but also would put strong emphasis on correcting what’s wrong within the state’s bureaucracy — and it’s clear that there are big problems.

The horrific West Philadelphia abortion clinic case, in which a doctor allegedly performed illegal abortions that killed a patient and viable infants, has revealed a commitment by Corbett to fix lax enforcement of state laws and regulations by state agencies and rid the state government of those who haven’t been doing their jobs.

On Tuesday, Corbett, angry over what had happened at the Philadelphia-area clinic for decades, revealed that four attorneys and two supervisors at the departments of Health and State either were fired or chose to resign over the departments’ failures in regard to the case.

The governor said that other employees had resigned previously and, at least for now, eight other employees involved in the internal investigation still were on the state payroll.

Referring to the atrocities that occurred at the clinic and the state agencies’ failures regarding inspection of it, Corbett said, “This doesn’t even rise to the level of government run amok. It was government not running at all. To call this unacceptable doesn’t say enough. It’s despicable.”

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who ran the clinic, as well as eight of his employees, face criminal charges in the case.

Besides expressing outrage over the state’s failures regarding Gosnell’s operation, which prosecutors have described as a drug mill by day and abortion mill by night, Corbett outlined changes his administration has implemented to prevent future horror stories like Gosnell’s.

One of the most significant ones is that yearly inspections now will be mandatory at all of the state’s abortion clinics, and the results will be posted on the state website.

Those inspections must be unannounced, random and not necessarily at 12-month intervals whereby clinic operators can prepare for an inspection. Clinics must never know when an inspection is imminent.

Corbett revealed that the state Health Department had not been performing systematic checks of the abortion clinics for more than a decade — meaning that that failure occurred both during Democratic and Republican administrations.

He said the situation evolved “because people weren’t doing their jobs, plain and simple.”

Corbett’s Capitol news conference Tuesday delivered the long-needed message that such failures won’t be tolerated. That message must remain firmly in place for those now charged with preventing future horrors.

Other state agencies must not delay in determining what’s wrong and right within their own operations. Taxpayers deserve a government that works, and works efficiently.