Critical Care Units

The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) is a 30-bed intensive care unit for post-operative patients. Under the direction of Mark Popovich, M.D., four staff anesthesiologists who are board-certified in anesthesiology and critical care medicine provide specialty services to patients recovering from surgery with acute postoperative management needs or patients with post-operative complications.

The clinical activity in the SICU averages 100 admissions and 375 patient days per month. The primary surgical services admitting to the SICU include Vascular Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, General Surgery and Orthopedics. The SICU staff oversee the fellowship in Critical Care Medicine, and host residency rotations. Major and minor clinical investigations are incorporated into their clinical practice. The SICU staff provide consultation services on acute post-operative care to surgical and medical colleagues.

The Cardiovascular Intensive Care Units (CVICUs) are under the direction of Jean-Pierre Yared, M.D., anesthesiologist and critical care physician. Additionally, four staff anesthesiologists with critical care certification provide daily clinical management in the CVICUs. There are a total of 75 CVICU beds divided into five manageable units. The CVICUs support more than 13,000 patient days per year.

Clinical management is co-primary with the cardiovascular surgeons. This collaborative structure enables the CVICU staff to determine several aspects of patient management such as ventilatory support, sedation, nutrition and monitoring. CVICU staff also play a key role in coordinating postoperative care between services. Staff provide follow-up on the regular nursing floor for patients with respiratory complications.

Presently, the CVICUs are staffed exclusively with physicians who have completed critical care training. Approximately 60 respiratory therapists work in the CVICUs and are directly supervised by the CVICU staff. Fellowships are available.