Welcome to the Franciscan Health System Institutional Review Board (MREC) website.

The Medical Research Evaluation Center (MREC) serves Investigators, employees, residents, and students conducting research at St. Anthony Hospital, St. Clare Hospital, St. Francis Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, Enumclaw Regional Hospital, Franciscan Hospice Program, and Franciscan Medical Group Clinics. All research carried out at Franciscan Health System is required to be reviewed by the MREC. The majority of research at FHS is done in conjunction with the FHS Research Center. Device studies and drug studies are the most common types of research conducted at FHS.
Research Center

The purpose of the MREC is to insure that no investigational research conducted at any of the Franciscan Health System facilities will expose participants to unreasonable risks to their health, well-being, or privacy. It is the Franciscan Health System policy that all research involving participation of human subjects insure that:

• The rights and welfare of human subjects are safeguarded
• Participation of human subjects is voluntary and based upon a legally –effective informed consent.
• The benefits outweigh the risks to human subjects to such an extent that the importance of the knowledge gained warrants the risks to the participants.

The FHS MREC operates in accordance with all regulations of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) CFR 45 and 46, all applicable Washington State statutes and regulations, the principals of “The Belmont Report” and all applicable FDA regulations regarding human subject research.
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm

All research involving human participants at the Franciscan Health System requires MREC review and approval. Use of a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) requires MREC review and approval prior to use. If the proposed research involves human subjects, data from human subjects (medical records, hospital bills, databases, or registries, etc), tissue or specimens from human subjects (either living or deceased), then you will need MREC review and approval PRIOR to beginning the research.

FORMS