Advocate Aurora Health

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.[3]

Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center

After forming a partnership with Aurora, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Milwaukee joined Aurora in 1988. Founded in 1907, the VNA is the largest provider of hospice care in Wisconsin.[3] Between 1992 and 1995, the health care system added five more hospitals: Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center (1992), Milwaukee Psychiatric Hospital (1993), Hartford Memorial Hospital (1993), Two Rivers Community Hospital (1993), and West Allis Memorial Hospital (1995).[3]

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.[4] In February 1996, Memorial Hospital of Burlington was the final hospital to join Aurora Health Care .[3]

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.[3]

In 2002, a 5-story Aurora Women's Pavilion was opened at West Allis Memorial Hospital.[3] On October 27, 2003, the health care system opened a new 84-bed hospital in Oshkosh.[5][6] In 2004, a 270-bed 12-story tower opened at St. Luke Medical Center, which was built atop the existing parking structure.[7]

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.[8] Aurora has opened 19 of these facilities including five in Walmart Supercenters.[9]

In 2006, after 22 years at the health care organization, G. Edwin Howe retired as president and chief executive officer.[10] Nick Turkal, a family practice physician and president of Aurora's metro Milwaukee region, was chosen as Howe's replacement. Turkal had been employed by Aurora Health Care since 1987.[11]

In March 2001, Aurora announced plans to build a new hospital in the Pabst Farms development in 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.[12] In 2004, Aurora revealed plans 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. In 2007, the Summit Town Board approved the new Aurora hospital, which was planned to have a capacity of 110 beds[13] and to have been completed in March 2010.[14]

On July 31, 2007, Advanced Healthcare, an independent practice in southeastern Wisconsin, and Aurora Health Care announced that they would join "under a broad affiliation agreement."[15][16] According to the agreement, the leadership of Advanced Healthcare would remain intact. In concert with the purchase announcement, Aurora and Advanced Healthcare constructed a new hospital in Grafton, which opened in late 2010. Health care industry experts estimated the total cost of purchasing Advanced Healthcare and constructing the Grafton hospital at $250 million.[15]

On December 4, 2017, Aurora Health Care and Advocate Health Care Network of Illinois announced a merger agreement.[17]