Brief Description

The Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science (CARES) has been serving veterans since 1984. The primary tax exempt purpose of CARES is biomedical, clinical and health services research as well as health related educational activities in collaboration with the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital (Hines) and the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (Lovell).

During the past year, CARES supported more than 150 individual researchers who are conducting research projects in the follow-ing areas: diabetic foot ulcers, antibiotic-resistant infections, osteoporosis, retinopathy, obesity, bladder function, neurofibromatosis, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, rehabilitation research and development, pressure ulcers, hypertension, infectious diseases, colon cancer, schizophrenia, stroke, health services and outcomes research, kidney dis-ease, Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, musculoskeletal biomechanics, and more.

Hines VAH currently operates 483 beds and six community based outpatient clinics in Elgin, Kankakee, Oak Lawn, Aurora, LaSalle, and Joliet. More than 700,000 patient visits occurred in fiscal year 2014 providing care to more than 57,000 veterans, primarily from Cook, DuPage and Will counties.