Cleveland Clinic and Milwaukee-based Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital are joining forces to advance cardiovascular care in the upper Midwest.
The affiliation allows the organizations to remain independent while collaborating on best practices in patient care, outcomes measurement, quality reporting and clinical research. In particular, Cleveland Clinic and Froedtert plan to focus on advancing heart care treatments and protocols through the new partnership.
"We have a strong cardiovascular program, and this relationship will help us take it to the next level," Michael Cinquegrani, MD, director of Froedtert & MCW heart and vascular services, said in a statement. "The best get better by collaborating and learning from each other. Joining our Medical College Physicians group with a proven national performer will accelerate our progress toward having a world-class heart program here in Milwaukee to benefit people throughout the region."
Froedtert is the first hospital in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest to become an affiliate member of Cleveland Clinic's Heart & Vascular Institute. This status will bring Froedtert patients and physicians access to new treatments and technologies and opportunities to collaborate in medical research, as well as the sharing of care pathways, quality processes, outcomes data analysis and medical education opportunities.
Froedtert's affiliation comes months after it opened a new Center for Advanced Care, which houses its heart and vascular program. This new home occupies the entire fourth floor of the new building — a testament to the program's 170 percent increase in outpatient volume over the past decade.
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