Our mission

Our mission, vision and values

UW Health is part of a long tradition of excellence and innovation in the health sciences in both Illinois and Wisconsin.

Recognizing early a need for both healthcare education and patient care, we are proud to partner with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Working together our physicians and researchers have pursued their fourfold mission with vision and vigor and have achieved numerous breakthroughs in medicine and health care. Their discoveries have helped extend the lives of people throughout the nation and the world.

UW Health through the years:

  • 1918-with the leadership of Pehr August Peterson, SwedishAmerican Hospital opened in Rockford

  • 1924-Wisconsin General Hospital opened in Madison

  • 1925-A full four-year medical program was established at the University of Wisconsin

  • 1979-University of Wisconsin Hospital is constructed

  • 1995-Working with the City of Rockford, SwedishAmerican helped renovate and revitalize a neighborhood south of SwedishAmerican hospital

  • 2006-SwedishAmerican Heart Hospital opened on the SwedishAmerican hospital campus

  • 2007-American Family Children’s Hospital opened in Madison

  • 2015-East Madison Hospital became the first new hospital to open in Madison since 1979

  • 2015-SwedishAmerican Health System merged with UW Health

  • 2021-SwedishAmerican Health System rebranded UW Health

Our mission, vision and values

As a healthcare organization, we exist for only one reason: Our patients and their families. They are at the center of our work and our mission, values and our vision of remarkable healthcare reflect our promise to them.

Our health system

Where serious conditions meet successful treatment

UW Health cares for more than 800,000 patients each year with more than 1,800+ employed physicians and 24,000+ employees. UW Health includes six main hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois. Additionally, we have one joint operating agreement (JOA) partner hospital in Madison and two hospitals located within the main hospital in Illinois.

Governed by the UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority in Wisconsin they partner with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health to fulfill its patient care, research, education and community services missions.

In 2015, SwedishAmerican, a community health system based in Rockford, Ill., became part of UW Health and in 2021, the UW Health brand was introduced and began rolling out across Northern Illinois. Providers in Illinois engage in education, clinical care and community service missions in partnership with the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Our health system

UW Health is a nationally recognized health system that includes:

A 505-bed regional referral center that is home to a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center, American College of Surgeons-verified Burn Center, one of the nation's largest organ transplant programs, one of the nation's first certified comprehensive stroke centers and the UW Carbone Cancer Center, one of 41 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive centers in the country.

Learn more about University Hospital

A 56-bed, community-based health and wellness facility.

A 111-bed comprehensive pediatric medical and surgical center with pediatric and neonatal surgical intensive care units, Level I pediatric trauma unit, verified Burn Center and a pediatric hybrid catheterization/angiography suite.

This 448-bed community-based hospital provides a complete range of medical and surgical services. UnityPoint Health-Meriter joined UW Health in 2017.

A 50-bed acute inpatient rehabilitation facility for people who have experienced stroke, brain and spinal-cord injuries, amputations, complex orthopedic injuries and other conditions requiring inpatient rehabilitative services.

Serving greater Rockford, northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, SwedishAmerican Hospital is a major 339-bed acute care hospital. Learn more

An inpatient/outpatient hospital with 34 beds in Belvidere, Ill.

  • Beloit Hospital (Beloit, Wis.)

  • UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center Rockford (Rockford, Ill.)

  • UW Cancer Center at ProHealth Care (Pewaukee, Wis.)

  • UW Cancer Center Johnson Creek (Johnson Creek, Wis.)

  • UW Cancer Center Aspirus Riverview Hospital (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.)

The state’s second-largest medical practice group, representing the 1,785 clinical faculty physicians of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

A subsidiary health insurance provider with more than 350,000 members in a 35-county region in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.

A not-for-profit membership corporation that facilitates clinical and contracting relationships with insurance companies and regional providers.

  • Generations Fertility Care

  • Madison Surgery Center

  • Transformations Surgery Center

  • UW Cancer Center Johnson Creek

  • UW Health Care Direct

  • Wisconsin Sleep

Awards

National recognition and awards

UW Health is recognized as one of the most progressive and prominent medical centers in the country. The quality of our work is often recognized by influential organizations and media institutions.

Leadership and outreach

A commitment to quality and equitable health care

An illustration of a tree with different color hands replacing leaves
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our vision is to be a leader in dismantling racism in ourselves, in our system and in our community.
A patient in an exam room
Population Health
Health is not just driven by clinical care, but also by where you live, work, play and learn.
Female physician giving young girl a high-5 during a doctor's appointment
Partners in care in Wisconsin
Combining strengths to better serve the people of Wisconsin.

Additional information

More information to assist you

About UW HealthCorporate governance
Information about UW Hospital and Clinics Authority Board, UW Health Swedish American Board of Directors and UWMF Board of Directors, including meeting schedules.
UW Health vendorsInformation and resources for vendors
UW Health is responsible for ensuring that vendor personnel register and pay necessary registration fees, and issues identification badges to vendor representatives.

Our patients

Our community

Additional resources