Aurora confirms Sinai Medical Center will remain open

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Business Journal reports Aurora Health Care has confirmed it will not close Aurora Sinai Medical Center, and will not limit emergency room services at the hospital. Aurora is dealing with $20 million in losses last year, and expected $30 million in losses this year.

CLICK HERE for more on this story from the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Aurora has been facing pressure lately regarding the possibility that Aurora Sinai would close, many expressing concerns about where central city patients would go for emergency room services.

Aurora says this decision includes maintaining the cancer care center at the hospital. Officials haven't yet commented on other inpatient services needed to support emergency room patients, and the announcement did not discuss how the hospital plans to deal with their mounting financial losses.

Aurora Sinai Medical Center is one of only two essential safety-net hospitals remaining in Milwaukee for the city's low-income neighborhoods. Wheaton-Franciscan has said they do not have the capacity to handle all central city patients if Sinai closes.

Alderman Bob Bauman, who's fourth district includes the Sinai campus, said the decision to keep the hospital and ER open was "the right one." "Sinai is a key provider of medical care in the downtown area and for residents across Milwaukee, and I'm pleased that Aurora officials decided to keep the doors open and the access to care available," Bauman said.