The Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science (CARES) welcomes the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center as its newest site served within VISN12 facilities, joining the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, and the William Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.
For nearly forty years, the West Side Institute for Science and Education (WISE) served the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (JBVAMC). In recent years CARES and WISE have found themselves managing the same projects at each site and in one case, subcontracting with each other.
After numerous discussions among the Board of Directors of both CARES and WISE it was determined that a merger would provide general economies of scale and the combined knowledge and expertise of the respective staff would strengthen the ability to serve the VA research and education enterprises at JBVAMC and the other CARES served VAs. Approval for the merger was obtained from the VA Non-Profit Oversight Board (NPOB) in September 2019.
In the early Spring 2020, CARES began serving as the institution of record for newly initiated research proposal submissions where JBVAMC was the performance site.
Merger documents were officially accepted by the Illinois Secretary of State office on August 7, 2020.
Existing WISE managed projects are now being transitioned to CARES and, effective August 17, 2020, all WISE personnel working on JBVAMC projects have been transitioned to CARES.
Additional activities are ongoing and as new information becomes available the FAQs document will be updated.
We’re excited about this new initiative and look forward to meeting the research and education needs of investigators and staff at JBVAMC.
If you have any questions, please contact CARES CEO, Cindy Reutzel, cindy.reutzel@va.gov, 708-343-6379.
Merger FAQs