Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center

  • 2900 W Oklahoma Ave
    Milwaukee, WI 53215

    Phone: 414-649-6000 • Fax: 414-649-7982
    Map and Driving Directions
  • Hours of Operation:
    24 hours/day, 7 days a week.
    Individual departments vary.
Year Milestone
1955 Purchased first heart pump in Wisconsin, the forerunner of today's heart-lung machine
1957 Performed first open heart procedure
1960 Initiated Wisconsin's first cardiac catheterization program
1961 Implanted Milwaukee's first pacemaker
1968 Performed first multiple coronary bypass surgery among Milwaukee's private hospitals
1968 Performed first heart transplant in the Midwest
1985 Became first hospital in nation to offer Transmyocardial Laser Revascularization (TMLR) to restore blood flow to damaged heart muscle
1986 Implanted Wisconsin's first Jarvik-7 artificial heart as a bridge to transplant
1987 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to use the drug TPA for emergency treatment of heart attack victims
1987 Established St. Luke's Immunotherapy Program based on work conducted at the National Cancer Institute, becoming Wisconsin's first hospital to offer cellular immunotherapy to stimulate cancer-fighting cells
1989 Became one of 12 medical centers nationwide to perform an atherectomy procedure
1989 Performed the first successful coronary laser angioplasty in Wisconsin
1990 Performed 100th heart transplant operation since initiating the program in 1968
1990 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to receive Medicare approval for heart transplants
1990 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to send patients home with semiautomatic defibrillator system
1991 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to insert a "stent" into a patient's coronary artery to prevent collapsing
1991 Received United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) approval for lung transplantation and performed the first lung transplant operation
1991 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to implant the pneumatic Heartmate, a ventricular assist device
1994 Became first hospital in Midwest to offer vented electric Heartmate ventricular assist device, and first to manage care of a patient at home while heart was being supported by the device
1994 Became first hospital in Midwest to offer vented electric Heartmate ventricular assist device, and first to manage care of a patient at home while heart was being supported by the device
1998 Ranked first among all Milwaukee hospitals in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics and overall care by America's Health Network
1998 Became first hospital in the Midwest to implant a permanent ventricular assist device
1998 Received UNOS approval for liver transplantation and performed the first liver transplant operation
1999 Performed 300th bone marrow transplant since program began in 1991
1999 Received UNOS and Medicare approvals for kidney transplantation
1999 Performed first multiple organ (heart-kidney) transplant operation
1999 Performed first cadaver kidney transplant operation
2000 Became Wisconsin's first hospital to offer Gamma Knife technology for non-invasive treatment of brain disorders
2000 Performed first live donor kidney transplant operation
2000 Nurses earned Magnet certification from the American Nurses Association, signifying excellence in all areas of nursing
2000 Became first hospital in the country to install breakthrough "open" MRI
2001 Became nation's first hospital to use microwave ablation to treat atrial fibrillation
2002 Performed first robotic surgery, involving the removal of a tumor behind the heart
2002 Performed Midwest's first closed-chest coronary bypass surgery with robotic surgical system
2003 Performed 500th heart transplant operation since first heart transplant in 1968
2003 Performed Wisconsin's first ceramic-on-ceramic hip implant
2003 Performed Wisconsin's first beating heart valve repair surgery
2003 Performed nation's first atrial fib ablation combining arrhythmia mapping and ultrafast CT imaging technology
2003 First robotic prostatectomy in Wisconsin
2005 Nurses again receive Magnet certification from the American Nurses Association
2005 100th robotic prostatectomy, the first in Wisconsin to reach that level
2006 Became Wisconsin's first hospital and one of the 40 in the U.S. to install Cyberknife, an advanced system for treating inoperable cancers of the head, neck, spine, lung, liver and pancreas
2006 Performed the state's first implant of the only FDA approved temporary Total Artificial Heart
2007 Inpatient rehabilitation programs are the 1st in Wisconsin to achieve accreditation by Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities as stroke specialty programs
2008 Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center is named one of the Top 100 Hospitals for Heart Care by Thomson Reuters
2009 Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center is named one of the 126 best hospitals in the nation by AARP
2010 American Heart Association awards Aurora St. Luke’s "Gold Performance Achievement" for treatment of heart failure and heart attack patients
2011 Patients receive replacement aortic valves at Aurora St. Luke’s