The Carle Foundation Hospital

Research and education initiatives: research carle health invests in clinical research to seek innovative solutions for difficult clinical challenges and ensure our patients have access to the most effective and innovative approaches to healthcare. The stephens family clinical research institute (sfcri) at carle health provides the scientific leadership and research infrastructure to advance research ideas and ensure the safe and compliant conduct of research in the clinical setting. Carle's clinicians and researchers conduct studies that receive recognition and support from national federal agencies, major foundations, and research institutions throughout the united states. In 2024, clinicians, researchers, and students worked on over 425 clinical trials and research studies across the health system. More than 3,000 patients participated in clinical research, including more than 1,400 new participants at locations in champaign-urbana, mattoon, danville, bloomington-normal and peoria. Researchers working at carle produced over 220 research publications in 2024, including important research in tbi care and stroke recovery. Research at carle health happens across the continuum of medical care. Nevertheless, certain fields stand out due to the exceptional expertise and collaboration among researchers and clinicians, leading to national acknowledgement of the programs created here. Cancer research at carle health's urbana cancer center has received support from the national cancer institute starting in 1985. The national cancer institute community oncology research program ("ncorp") grant supports community access to innovative clinical trials and best practice in care delivery. Carle cancer center is one of only thirty-two community sites in the nation, bringing cancer clinical trials to individuals in their own communities. Carle's cancer research program has received multiple nci awards for its high-quality, impactful work, leading to increased funding and wider clinical partnerships. The carle ncorp network now has 26 affiliate sites in areas of illinois and western indiana that do not have access to cancer clinical trials and emerging treatments, carle cancer institute received numerous awards in 2024 recognizing their outstanding accomplishments in bringing clinical trials to patients in our region, ranking as one of the top 10 programs in the country for nci clinical trial success alongside institutions like the mayo clinic and johns hopkins. Carle continues to be a top recruiting site in the nation for an important study evaluating the effectiveness of 2d versus 3d mammography. Georgina cheng, md, phd, a carle physician researcher and gynecological oncologist, has received the distinguished warren and clare cole award to advance her research on digital pathology tools. Designed for use during surgeries in the operating room, the tools will help improve diagnostic accuracy in the operating room and help surgeons make clearer decisions regarding immediate approaches for surgery and treatment of diseases. Dr. Claudius conrad, hepatobiliary surgical oncologist, joined carle in 2024 and was awarded a research grant from fuji film to develop the use of advanced imaging tools in the or to help surgeon visualize important structures in the liver, pancreas and bile duct, which improves surgical outcomes for patients. The carle clinical imaging research center is leading the use of the siemens 7 t mri system, the only 7 t system in the state of illinois approved for clinical use. Carle health and the university of illinois urbana champaign beckman imaging center, partnered to acquire the siemens 7t mri system 2020 and work closely to develop a unique coupling of advanced scientific development with clinical innovation. Our goal is to improve visualization of challenging clinical conditions to develop better detection and treatment of complex disease. Primary areas of interest are in traumatic brain injury, stroke recovery, epilepsy, parkinsons disease and cognitive decline associated with advanced disease and aging. In 2024, carle health improved the use of 7t functional mri, which identifies regions of the brain used for various cognitive tasks. The resulted in improved identification of epilepsy focal loci (seizure start sites) to help improve outcomes for epilepsy patients undergoing surgery for seizure management. Research in this area led by epileptologist graham huesman md, phd continues to improve understanding of seizure generation. Researcher zhaoyue shi, phd is using 7 t mri to understand the cognitive deficits seen in approximately 40% colon cancer patients before treatment starts. She also utilizes 7t mri imaging with the goal of improving alzheimer's diagnosis. She received a new investigator award from the alzheimer's association to study visualization of cognitive deficits earlier in the disease process. Yuan yang, phd, a leading expert in transcranial electrical and magnetic stimulation leads running an american heart association funded clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial stimulation in restoring deficits remaining after recovery from stroke. His team also partners with our 7t research team to visualize cognitive function after stimulation. Carle health is home to one of the leading experts in the diagnosis of hypermobile ehlers-danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that affects thousands of people in the state. Christina laukaitis, md/phd, and international expert on the genetic underpinnings of hypermobile ehlers danlos disease. Damon and laukaitis, who partner with a team at university of illinois, are studying the impacts of connective tissue structural weaknesses on the range of injuries and illness affecting this patient population, including a disorder that can lead to premature birth and miscarriage. Carle health is the primary clinical research partner for the carle illinois college of medicine at the university of illinois at urbana champaign. Carle partners on more than forty collaborative research projects to advance understanding of complex disease processes and develop technical solutions. In 2024, carle health joined the epic cosmos consortium, which provided students with access to a national healthcare database. Working with data scientists at carle, cimed students quickly became top users of the database, authoring several important clinical observation publications over the last year. These publications help to improve knowledge of patient outcomes and raise awareness of how patients may respond to various treatment approaches. Carle health continues to partner with innovators and start-up companies to support development of novel solutions for challenges facing clinical care. Our partnership with prenosis, a company founded in 2016, resulted in the first de novo fda approval for an ai based diagnostic tool. Sepsis immunoscore, uses algorithms to combine biological data with broad clinical data to elucidate patterns in the human biological response to sepsis. Founded by rashid bashir, dean of the university of illinois grainger college of engineering, and bobby reddy jr., phd, chicago-based prenosis collaborated with carle critical care physician, karen white, md, phd and emergency medicine physicians, brad weir, and ben davis to design and test the algorithm that eventually led to sepsis immunoscore, which is currently being used in a clinical trial at carle foundation hospital to test the clinical user experience. Carle health has collaborated with various medical student and faculty start-up ventures to assist in designing clinical research studies and to enhance their understanding of clinical settings, thereby improving the development and effectiveness of their innovations.

The carle community care discount program (financial assistance): as a tax-exempt organization, the carle foundation hospital provides care to patients regardless of their ability to pay for that care or source of payment. We also recognize that some patients need help to pay their bills. The carle foundation hospital's community care discount program (financial assistance) provides discounts or free care to those who need it. Our community care discount program is continually evaluated and managed as needed to meet the needs of our community. Evaluation involves input from administrative leaders, patient accounts staff, local consumer advocacy groups, and patients. During 2024, financial assistance alone for hospital patients totaled $18,057,494 at cost.