Whenever extremely ill children are brought to Children's Memorial Hospital they are usually admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (the PICU) and are cared for by specialists in the Division of Critical Care. (Extremely ill newborns go to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the NICU).
In the 42-bed PICU, children receive the finest care available with the most recent advancements in equipment and techniques, with every possible attention to pulmonary needs, critical care, and other specialty needs. The new developments are designed to ensure accuracy in medication and fluid delivery, hasten healing, prevent complications, and contribute to patients' healing and well-being.
In 2009, the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit was opened as part of the PICU. The nine-bed unit is designed for postoperative cardiovascular surgery patients and critically ill cardiology patients.