Froedtert Hospital: Milwaukee Academic Medical Center and Level I Trauma

Froedtert Hospital is a 781-bed academic medical center and Level I adult trauma center located at 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving as the primary adult teaching affiliate of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Opened in 1980, Froedtert is eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center, one of two Level I adult trauma centers in the state, and a nationally ranked referral destination for advanced care in cancer, cardiology, transplant, neurosciences, and more than 25 specialty areas. U.S. News and World Report ranks Froedtert Hospital 3rd in Wisconsin and 2nd in Milwaukee, with high-performing ratings in seven adult specialties and 21 procedures and conditions.

Overview and Facility Details

Froedtert Hospital operates as the flagship campus of the Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, a partnership that includes 10 hospital locations, more than 3,400 physicians and clinicians, and more than 45 health centers and clinics across Wisconsin.

The hospital is named for Kurtis R. Froedtert, a Milwaukee malt baron whose vision and financial support catalyzed the development of the regional academic medical center. Froedtert is located on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus in Wauwatosa, a consortium of six healthcare institutions that also includes Children’s Wisconsin, the Ronald McDonald House, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, and Curative Rehabilitation. The hospital employs 8,066 team members, including 2,759 nurses and 1,947 physicians, and trains more than 1,000 medical, nursing, and health technical students annually. All physicians at Froedtert Hospital are Medical College of Wisconsin faculty. Froedtert Hospital is also part of Froedtert ThedaCare, Wisconsin’s most comprehensive health care system.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, academic medical centers like Froedtert consistently deliver higher survival rates for complex conditions than community hospitals, reflecting the concentration of subspecialty expertise, research-driven protocols, and continuous trainee oversight that characterizes teaching hospital environments.

Medical Services and Specialties

Froedtert Hospital provides a full range of medical and surgical specialties across more than 25 service areas, with particular depth in cancer care, cardiovascular medicine, transplant surgery, neurosciences, orthopaedics, and organ transplantation.

The transplant program performs heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, and blood and marrow transplants. In the most recent fiscal year, the hospital performed 27 heart transplants, 193 kidney transplants, 66 liver transplants, 12 pancreas transplants, and 382 blood and marrow transplants. The trauma center evaluated 4,457 patients, the emergency department handled 73,736 visits, and the hospital recorded 40,578 inpatient admissions and more than 1,035,213 outpatient visits. Cancer Registry cases totaled 7,045, reflecting the hospital’s role as a high-volume oncology center treating the most complex and advanced cases.

The hospital was the first in Wisconsin and the second academic hospital in the United States to earn Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center certification. The Eye Institute at Froedtert manages all serious eye conditions. Additional specialty services include diabetes and endocrinology, digestive and gastroenterology, ear, nose, and throat, fertility and reproductive medicine, plastic and reconstructive surgery, sleep disorders, urology, weight management and bariatrics, women’s health, and primary care. The cardiology program recorded 72,883 encounters in the most recent fiscal year, and the hospital delivered 4,152 live births through its pregnancy and birth services.

Awards, Rankings, and Accreditations

Froedtert Hospital is nationally ranked in multiple specialties, holds fourth-time Magnet recognition for nursing excellence, and has been named to Healthgrades’ America’s 50 Best Hospitals list, placing it in the top 1% of hospitals nationwide.

In the 2025 Vizient Quality Leadership Ranking, Froedtert Hospital ranked 16th out of 118 comprehensive academic medical centers nationally, evaluated across six domains: safety, mortality, effectiveness, efficiency, patient centeredness, and variation in care. Healthgrades recognized Froedtert as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery, one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care, and one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention. U.S. News and World Report rates the hospital high performing in seven adult specialties and 21 procedures and conditions, with recognized excellence in cancer, nephrology, endocrinology, and respiratory disorders. In 2009, Froedtert ranked in the nation’s top 10 academic medical centers in the annual University HealthSystem Consortium quality and accountability study. Becker’s Hospital Review named Froedtert one of the 100 Great Hospitals in America for 2024, the only Wisconsin hospital to receive this recognition. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation recognized the hospital as a 2024 High Performer in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality.

Research, Education, and the MCW Partnership

Froedtert Hospital participates in nearly 2,000 research studies and clinical trials annually, working alongside the Medical College of Wisconsin faculty in a fully integrated academic medical center partnership that spans patient care, medical education, and biomedical discovery.

Every physician who practices at Froedtert Hospital holds a faculty appointment at the Medical College of Wisconsin, ensuring that clinical care is delivered alongside ongoing research and graduate medical education. The Medical College of Wisconsin, founded in 1893, enrolls more than 1,500 students across medical, graduate, and pharmacy school programs in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Central Wisconsin. The partnership between Froedtert and MCW makes the campus eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical center, providing patients with access to specialists who are also investigators in their fields.

The hospital is part of the Froedtert and MCW health network, which draws patients from throughout the Midwest and nationally. Network-wide in the most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits were nearly 1.8 million, inpatient admissions across all network hospitals exceeded 63,000, and visits to network physicians totaled more than 1.59 million. Patients at Froedtert Hospital can access the MyChart patient portal for appointments, test results, and provider messaging, or use the Froedtert and MCW Finder mobile app for step-by-step navigation across the hospital campus.

Patients in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest seeking other regionally ranked academic medical center options may also review Edward Hospital in Naperville, an Endeavor Health regional referral center in the Chicago metropolitan area, or Elmhurst Hospital in Illinois, a Level I Trauma Center and Magnet-recognized facility in the greater Chicago region.

Patient Services and Community Access

Froedtert Hospital receives more than 10,000 patient transfers annually from other facilities, reflecting its role as the regional destination for cases exceeding the capacity of community hospitals across Wisconsin and neighboring states.

The hospital accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and most major commercial insurance plans. Patient transfer coordination and international patient services are available through the hospital’s dedicated teams. A 24-hour pharmacy and on-site discharge lounge support patient transitions out of inpatient care. Welcome Center staff in red coats are stationed at major hospital entrances to assist with navigation, and a 24-hour security team is available at (414) 805-7070 for safety, lost property, and walking escort assistance. The main patient information line at (414) 805-5505 connects callers around the clock to operators for directory, department inquiries, and general hospital information. Financial assistance programs are available for eligible patients through the Froedtert billing and financial services department.