Aurora Health Care

Aurora Health Care
Not-for-profit corporation
Industry Health care
Genre Health care system
Founded 1984
Headquarters Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Area served
 Eastern Wisconsin, Northeast Illinois
Key people

Nick Turkal, MD

President & CEO
Revenue $4,344,554,305
Number of employees
 25,087
Website www.aurora.org

Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit health care system headquartered in Milwaukee and serving eastern Wisconsin. The system has 15 hospitals, 185 clinics, and more than 80 community pharmacies.[1][2] With over 30,000 employees including over 6,300 registered nurses, and nearly 1,500 employed physicians,[3] Aurora is one of Wisconsin's largest private-sector employers.[4] Since its formation in 1984, Aurora has expanded through partnerships with independent community hospitals and affiliations with physician organizations as well as organic growth by building new hospitals and medical centers.

History

Formation (1984–1987)

In 1984, St. Luke's Medical Center, located on Milwaukee's south side, and Good Samaritan Medical Center, located on Milwaukee's near north side, formed an affiliation called St. Luke's Samaritan Health Care. This partnership was the first in the Milwaukee area of two formerly independent hospitals. Three years later, when Mount Sinai Medical Center merged with Good Samaritan Medical Center in 1987, the partnership changed its name to Aurora Health Care.[2]

The goal of the partnership of the three hospitals was to reduce costs, maintain a high level of care, and compete with the other hospitals in the Milwaukee metropolitan area.[2]

Expansion through partnerships (1988–1997)

After forming a partnership with Aurora, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Milwaukee joined Aurora in 1988. The VNA, founded in 1907, is Wisconsin's largest provider of hospice care for children and adults.[2]

Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center

Between 1992 and 1995, the health care system added five more hospitals:[2]

Two more hospitals were brought into the Aurora system in 1995: the 78-year-old Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn, owned by Walworth County, and Trinity Memorial Hospital in Cudahy, founded in 1958 and owned by Catholic Health Corp. Aurora acquired Lakeland Medical Center for about $16 million. In the deal, Aurora assumed the hospital's bond obligations and debt and agreed to contribute to a fund to cover the uninsured.[5] In February 1996, Memorial Hospital of Burlington was the final hospital to join Aurora Health Care .[2]

Expansion through construction (1998 – present)

Aurora Medical Center in Two Rivers.

In 1998, Aurora built its first hospital, on the west side of Kenosha, which opened in February 1999. That same year Aurora replaced Two Rivers Community Hospital with a new facility, which opened in June 2000.[2]

Constrained by space at the 17-acre (6.9 ha) St. Luke's Medical Center campus, Aurora expanded upward by building a 12-story "heart tower" on top of the existing parking structure. The expansion has 270 beds and opened in 2004.[6]

During the spring of 2002, the 5-story Aurora Women's Pavilion was opened at West Allis Memorial Hospital.[2]

On October 27, 2003, the health care system opened a new 84-bed hospital in Oshkosh, which employs over 400 people, and competes with the 157-bed Mercy Medical Center.[7][8]

Recent activity

In March 2004, Aurora Health Care announced a new QuickCare service, the first of its kind in the Milwaukee area. The kiosks, known as Aurora QuickCare, are staffed by providers who handle basic, common medical issues for a flat rate.[9] Aurora has opened 19 of these facilities including five in Walmart Supercenters.[10]

After leading the health care system since its creation 22 years earlier, G. Edwin Howe announced his retirement as president and chief executive officer.[11] Nick Turkal, M.D., a family practice physician and president of Aurora's metro Milwaukee region, was chosen as Howe's replacement, effective on January 1, 2007. Turkal has been employed by Aurora Health Care since 1987.[12]

Summit Hospital

In March 2001, Aurora announced plans to build a new hospital in the Pabst Farms development that was in the jurisdiction of the city of Oconomowoc. The Oconomowoc Common Council rezoned the property in June 2001, preventing the development. Aurora sued Oconomowoc because it believed that the rezoning was done illegally.[13]

Aurora revealed plans in 2004 to construct a hospital in the Pabst Farms development located in the Town of Summit a few hundred feet (around 100 meters) south of the proposed Oconomowoc site. It was to be Aurora's first hospital in Waukesha County. In 2007, the Summit Town Board approved the new Aurora hospital, which was planned to have a capacity of 110 beds[14] and to have been completed in March 2010.[15]

The new Summit home for Aurora Wilkinson Medical Clinic was to open October 26, 2009 and replace the current Aurora Wilkinson Medical Clinic, the Wilkinson Women's Center, and the Aurora Vision Center, all currently in Oconomowoc. The Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic was also to move from its Oconomowoc location to the Summit campus and a new Aurora Pharmacy was to open at the Summit facility.

The new Aurora Medical Center campus in the Town of Summit is at the southeast corner of Interstate 94 and Highway 67. The new Aurora Wilkinson Medical Clinic was to be on the west side of the campus, and the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic is on the south side.

Advanced Healthcare Merger

In late 2006, Advanced Healthcare, the largest independent practice in southeastern Wisconsin that had not aligned with a health care system, began seeking a buyer or a partnership with a Milwaukee-area health care system. On July 31, 2007, Advanced Healthcare and Aurora Health Care announced that they would be joined "under a broad affiliation agreement."[16][17] According to the agreement, the leadership of Advanced Healthcare would remain intact.

In concert with the purchase announcement, Aurora and Advanced Healthcare announced they would construct a new hospital in Grafton, a northern suburb of Milwaukee, which opened in late 2010 and competes for patients in Ozaukee County with Columbia-St. Mary's Hospital Ozaukee. Health care industry experts estimated the total cost of purchasing Advanced Healthcare and constructing the Grafton hospital at $250 million.[16]

Divisions and Subsidiaries

ACL Laboratories

ACL Laboratories is a joint venture between Aurora Health Care and Chicago's largest integrated health care system, Advocate Health Care. It was created in 1997 by a merger of several independent laboratories in Wisconsin and the Greater Chicago area. ACL performs a myriad of lab tests from routine blood tests to toxicology and drug tests, most of which have a 24-hour turnaround.[18]

Visiting Nurse Association

The Visiting Nurse Association of Milwaukee joined Aurora in 1988 and as of 2010 employs 886 caregivers that provided 273,092 visits to over 15,000 patients averaging well over 2,200 visits per day while traveling over 3,000,000 miles.[19]

Aurora Family Service

In 1995 Family Service of Milwaukee joined Aurora to become Aurora Family Service.[20] In 2010 Aurora Family Service served nearly 13,000 families with approximately 1,500 families receiving services on any given day.[21]

Sports Medicine Institute

Since 1984 the Aurora Sports Medicine Institute has grown to its current size of 14 locations across southeastern Wisconsin. The Institute runs programs many such as Free Injury Evaluations, Performance Running, Performance Golf, among others including arrangements with the Milwaukee Admirals as well as Marquette University.[22]

Hospitals

Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay

References

  1. ↑ "Our Organization". Our Organization. Aurora Health Care. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Aurora Health Care's history". Aurora Health Care. Archived from the original on April 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  3. ↑ "Annual Report" (PDF). Aurora Health Care. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  4. ↑ Schmid, John (2006-03-24). "Aurora founder Howe to retire". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  5. ↑ Lincoln, Judy (1995-03-15). "Country OKs hospital deal with Aurora". Milwaukee Sentinel. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  6. ↑ Trewyn, Phill (2003-09-03). "The answer at St. Luke's: elevate". The Business Journal. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  7. ↑ "Open house celebration Oct. 25 to unveil Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh" (Press release). Aurora Health Care. 2003-08-31. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  8. ↑ Trewyn, Phill (2003-03-28). "Aurora on track in Oshkosh". The Business Journal. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  9. ↑ Williams, Scott (2004-05-28). "Aurora plans to launch 8 'Quick Care' kiosks". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (FindArticles.com).
  10. ↑ "Aurora Facilities". Aurora Health Care. Archived from the original on May 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  11. ↑ "Aurora Health Care CEO Howe to retire". The Business Journal. 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  12. ↑ "Turkal to take over Aurora Health Care". The Business Journal. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  13. ↑ Clark, Jonna (2006-08-22). "Town and city come together over hospital". Waukesha Freeman (Aurora Health Care). Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  14. ↑ Rinard, Amy (2007-03-01). "Aurora given green light". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  15. ↑ dead link] "Aurora to open Town of Summit clinic months ahead of schedule". Aurora Health Carea. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Boulton, Guy; Sussman, Lawrence (2007-08-01). "Aurora plans Grafton hospital". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  17. ↑ "Advanced Healthcare and Aurora Health Care agree to form broad new alliance to improve care" (Press release). Aurora Health Care. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  18. ↑ "About ACL Labrotories". About ACL Labroatoies. ACL Labroatories. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Annual Report" (PDF). 2010 Annual Report. Visiting Nurse Association. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Aurora Health Care's History". Aurora Health Care's History. Aurora Health Care. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Annual Report" (PDF). 2010 Annual Report. Aurora Family Services. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Sports Medicine". Aurora Sports Medicine Institute. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

See also