Milwaukee Wis. — Froedtert Health announced it has joined the MKE Tech Hub Coalition to support the advancement of the Milwaukee region as a tech and innovation hub. The MKE Tech Hub Coalition was formed in 2019 to work with companies and organizations to transform southeastern Wisconsin into a thriving innovation-based economy.
As one of the largest employers in the region, Froedtert Health recognizes the importance of tech and innovation on the local economy and within the health care ecosystem. Six years ago, Froedtert Health created Inception Health to bring the best of innovation from beyond the four walls of the health network into its health care operations. Since that time the Froedtert & MCW health network was the first health system in Wisconsin to offer a number of digital health care services to the community, built a nationally leading digital therapeutics program, launched an integrated analytics platform enabling data-driven decision making and built a digital engagement platform that served as a key component to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the transformation of the Froedtert & MCW health network has accelerated through expansion of the in-house digital engineering team at Inception Health.
The Froedtert & MCW health network is committed to engaging with local partners to support the tech and innovation ecosystem in the Milwaukee region. The health system recently partnered with Northwestern Mutual and the MKE Tech Hub Coalition to host Reverse Pitch MKE. The virtual event invited entrepreneurs, startups and other creatives to help solve challenges and potentially launch a product and business and resulted in two winning teams being selected for the Froedtert & MCW health network challenges. Additionally, the Froedtert & MCW health network recently partnered with Northwestern Mutual, the Milwaukee Bucks, the MKE Tech Hub Coalition and Young Enterprising Society on Reverse Pitch MKE High School Edition where the Reverse Pitch challenges were utilized by 40 high school students to create industry relevant solutions through an accelerator program and pitch competition.
“Our membership in the MKE Tech Hub Coalition is important to support the future of the tech and innovation ecosystem in Milwaukee,” said Mike Anderes, chief digital officer for the Froedtert & MCW health network and the president of Inception Health. “As a local health system, we recognize the importance of tech jobs on the future of our organization, the local economy, and the broader goal to transform health care that we all benefit from.”
“Talent drives innovation. Froedtert Health joins other model employers who are willing to invest in developing the tech talent of the region. Each employer’s impact is multiplied by their collective engagement,” said Kathy Henrich, CEO for MKE Tech Hub Coalition.
The mission of the MKE Tech Hub Coalition is to inclusively double the tech workforce in southeastern Wisconsin. Seventy-five member organizations are collaborating to fulfill the tech talent requirements of employers as well as drive enduring economic success and create life-changing jobs for the region.
About Froedtert Health
Froedtert Health is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based, integrated health care system providing a variety of health-related services, including hospitals and health centers, home care, laboratory, health insurance, employer health services and workplace clinics, and digital health solutions.
About Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network
The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin regional health network is a partnership between Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin supporting a shared mission of patient care, innovation, medical research and education. Our health network operates eastern Wisconsin's only academic medical center and adult Level I Trauma Center at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, an internationally recognized training and research center engaged in thousands of clinical trials and studies. The Froedtert & MCW health network, which includes eight hospital locations, nearly 2,000 physicians and more than 45 health centers and clinics, draws patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. In our most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits exceeded 1.2 million, inpatient admissions to our hospitals were 52,807 and visits to our network physicians totaled 947,136. For more information, visit froedtert.com/about.
About MKE Tech Hub
The MKE Tech Hub Coalition is a non-profit organization working to inclusively double tech talent in the Milwaukee region. We serve as a unifying voice for Milwaukee’s tech community, working with others to grow a vibrant, inclusive ecosystem where tech and innovation create enduring regional prosperity and life-changing jobs. Formed in late 2019, 75 member organizations now collaborate to grow tech jobs matched with the right supply of skilled talent through K-20, reskilling and attraction/retention initiatives. Underlying all of these initiatives is an intentional focus on increasing the diversity of our tech talent. To learn more about the MKE Tech Hub Coalition, visit mketech.org.