Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) was founded in 1951 as, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation. In 2017 RIC, with 182 beds, began doing business as the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab (SRAlab) and moved to a new building with 242 licensed beds. This move brought not only a physical change of address but a whole new model to the field of rehabilitation. Upon opening the 1.2-million-square-foot building SRAlab became the first-ever "translational" rehabilitation research hospital in which clinicians, scientists, innovators and technologists work together in the same space, surrounding patients, discovering new approaches and applying (or "translating") research in real time. SRAlab's vision is to advance human ability through science and research. The organization has earned the distinction of being named the nation's #1-ranked provider of comprehensive physical medicine and rehabilitation care to patients from around the world every year since the designation's inception in 1992 by U.S. News & World Report - a record for any U.S. hospital. In addition to being a large rehabilitation hospital SRAlab is the nation's largest rehabilitation research enterprise, advancing the field globally through innovation of the most advanced treatments and technologies. For FY 2024 SRAlab's system of care included a 262-bed hospital located at 355 East Erie Street in Chicago and numerous outpatient programs in the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs. In addition, we manage the rehabilitation service line in several acute care hospitals through our strategic alliance platform, primarily in the Chicagoland area. In addition, we completed our first full year managing the inpatient rehabilitation service at Hennepin Healthcare. The Corporation offers a comprehensive range of inpatient, day rehabilitation and outpatient rehabilitation services. Inpatient rehabilitation services are provided using an interdisciplinary approach with a team bringing unique skills and knowledge to ensure patients achieve the best possible outcomes. Day rehabilitation is a similar model to inpatient in that it consists of an interdisciplinary approach for individuals. Once the patient does not require 24-hour nursing care and daily medical management, we are able to transition patients to the day rehabilitation model. Outpatient care is typically a singular discipline (e.g., physical therapy) and offers various levels of therapeutic intensity, depending on the patient's needs and goals. In FY 2024 we grew our net operating income and operating EBITDA from the previous year. Our total net revenue grew by 8.9% resulting in $1.7M in net operating income, $3.6M better than budget. We improved financial ratios and exceeded debt covenant metrics, including debt service coverage ratio and days cash on hand (more than 380 days at year-end). In addition, Fitch Ratings affirmed Shirley Ryan AbilityLab's A credit rating and revised the outlook to Positive. Inpatient admissions to the Flagship facility grew 1%, particularly through our global network and national admissions with 4% growth from prior year. Both the day rehabilitation and the outpatient therapy programs grew year over year by 3% and 2% respectively. Our total research grant portfolio exceeds $150M. SRAlab offers the ability for patients to participate in research at the same time they are receiving clinical care. Since inception SRAlab's has worked relentlessly to develop and implement interventions that drive the very best outcomes. SRAlab serves patients with the most complex conditions with multiple medical and rehabilitation issues. The Advancement Department is in year 2 of the Accelerate Ability Campaign with an aim to raise money to support research initiatives and quality of life programs. We raised ~ $80M and secured more than $20M in bequests toward a $100M goal. We continue our planning for a new and unique partnership with Henry Ford Healthcare, the Gilbert Family Foundation and Michigan State University which will allow us to bring our world-class care to the Detroit market. Groundbreaking for the new tower in downtown Detroit occurred this year. This tower will house 72 rehabilitation beds managed through a joint venture between Henry Ford Health System and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. It is the mission of SRAlab to not only focus on our patients but to also elevate the entire rehabilitation field. In FY 2024, SRAlab clinicians, physicians and researchers shared numerous presentations to various professional audiences as well as published papers on scientific and clinical advancements. SRAlab continues to focus on providing a number of unreimbursed services improving the quality of life for our patients. These services include vocational rehabilitation, virtual education and consumer health resources available free of charge to all through our LIFE (Learning Innovation, Family and Empowerment) Center website, and adaptive sports and fitness services for children and adults. SRAlab continues to support the Robert R. McCormick Center for Hope & Equity to provide needed education for our staff and wraparound services for our patients who come from vulnerable communities.

Research Program: SRAlab's Research Program is the world's largest physical rehabilitation research enterprise in pursuit of clinical advancement through scientific discovery. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Research Program had approximately 140 research projects underway, funded by more than $170 million in grants and donations from both private and public sources. Its experts regularly publish research in the world's foremost medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and its European equivalent, The Lancet, and it is home to six federal research designations to develop cutting-edge solutions for patients. Biologics Lab and Aphasia Research Integration: We have integrated our biologics laboratory with the rest of the hospital in the aphasia research program. We are now genetically sequencing patients in the stroke rehabilitation program to understand the genetic basis (if any) for response to therapy. This work was funded by NIDILRR. The NIDILRR-funded center is especially for patients with hemispheric stroke - the most debilitating kind. Initial results have demonstrated a biological basis for response to therapy. Based on new studies from adult stem cells in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), we have begun the first-of-its-kind drug repurposing study in these patients in an attempt to relieve painful and disfiguring muscle contractures. Manipulation and Mobility Technologies: A NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center award to fund six new projects researching innovations that are directly useful for patients, especially those who have experienced limb-loss or stroke. Projects include body-powered hand prostheses, use of powered exoskeleton for after-stroke patients, and a new wheelchair to allow both sitting and standing. Research will include both technology development and clinical testing. Health and Function in Physical Disability: This Rehabilitation and Training Center, funded by NIDILRR, was created to develop, evaluate, and implement methods to promote optimal health and function of people with physical disabilities. Through a variety of research, training and dissemination activities, we have begun to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the efficacy and value of various interventions for achieving and maintaining health and function for people with a disability. We have also created a mentoring program to encourage and train the next generation of rehabilitation researchers. Spinal Cord Injury Research: SRAlab operates the Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System as designated by NIDILRR. One of only 14 SCI Model Systems nationwide, SRAlab advances spinal cord care through clinical research that identifies new standards of care for the industry. It leads multiple independent and collaborative research projects exploring walking therapy technologies that deliver the most effective treatment to advance ability. This year we completed the first part of a unique pharmacological treatment of chronic spinal cord injury as the only center in the world with this drug. Engineering Research: This project established a NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center, Collaborative Machines Enhancing Therapies (COMET), focusing on advancing technologies that work in partnership with patients and clinicians to enhance gait and dexterity outcomes for individuals with stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI) and other people with disabilities in a real-life rehabilitation setting. This project is based at SRAlab and leads four other major research universities around the United States. Wearable and Mobile Sensors: This center continues the "Center for Smart Use of Technologies to Assess Real World Outcomes" known as (CSTAR). This center serves as a national resource for rehabilitation professionals attempting to measure patient function in objective manners outside of the traditional clinical environment. Our partnership allows us to leverage the collective experience of our clinicians, scientists, engineers, and patients to provide the expertise, instruction, and mentoring to support the smart use of technology. One especially gratifying result of this grant has been the "seeding" of research grants to young faculty at various universities around the country. In the past four years, having invested approximately $700k in pilot projects, our grantees have used the results of these pilot projects to successfully compete for over $7M in federal funding! Rapid Non-Invasive Screening for Covid-19: Controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic largely depends on scaling up the testing infrastructure for identifying infected individuals. This project establishes a novel paradigm based on recording the physiological responses elicited by a short (~2 minutes) sequence of activities (i.e. "snapshot"), to detect symptoms associated with COVID-19. We are employing a novel body-conforming soft wearable sensor placed on the suprasternal notch to capture data on physical activity, cardio-respiratory function, and cough sounds. Early results, although preliminary, suggest that a sensor-based snapshot paradigm may be a promising approach for non-invasive and repeatable testing to alert individuals that need further screening.