Holly Schmidtke was placed as the president of Aurora West Allis Medical Center in West Allis, Wisconsin. Part of the Advocate Aurora Health system, Aurora West Allis is a 291-bed hospital that is home to the Aurora Women’s Pavilion, a Comprehensive Breast Care Center, an eICU, a Level III NICU, and a Joint Commission-certified Stroke Center, and has been regionally recognized for a variety of services. Aurora West Allis also provides a number of outreach and community programs, from screenings to school-based programs to classes and lectures. In her role, Holly will provide strategic direction and leadership for medical center operations while ensuring high-quality care, sound fiscal operations, and compliance, and will ensure that services and the overall patient experience are delivered in a manner consistent with Advocate Aurora Health’s service, financial, and operational initiatives.
Holly has been with Aurora Health Care since 2014, most recently serving as interim president of Aurora West Allis. Prior to that appointment, she served as vice president of operations for Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, a 933-bed quaternary care facility in which she led operations for the cancer service line, standardizing services and implementing best practices across 13 clinics; for pulmonary medicine, GI services, and hyperbaric medicine, achieving greater efficiency, optimizing throughput and scheduling, and leading growth; and for laboratory services, environmental services, food and nutrition, patient transport, public safety, valet services, and imaging services. Holly also served Aurora Health Care as vice president and chief nursing officer for the Burlington/Walworth market, comprised of two community hospitals.
Holly began her career with ProHealth Care in Wisconsin as a bedside nurse at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, subsequently progressing within the system through the roles of charge nurse, administrative supervisor, manager of the nursing float pool, manager of behavioral health services, and director of behavioral health, staffing, and throughput services. Her terminal role with the health system was that of transitional director for the hospital division’s medical/surgical services.
Holly holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Carroll College-Columbia College of Nursing and an MBA from Alverno College. She is a Certified Nurse Manager Leader, a CNO Fellow of the Health Management Academy, and a member of the American College of Health Care Executives and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Outside of work, Holly enjoys running, reading, gardening, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
Quick Leonard Kieffer’s Mike Quick led the search to recruit Holly to Aurora West Allis Medical Center.
