Welcome to Critical Care Medicine
The Department of Pediatrics Section of Critical Care Medicine provides inpatient clinical services at Children's Hospital Colorado, located in Aurora.
We are recognized as one of the top pediatric critical care research programs nationally, with outstanding clinical outcomes, a committed fellowship training program and one of the highest levels of extramural funding within a critical care section.
We are actively involved in local and national efforts to improve patient safety and promote quality improvement in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Research programs include funded projects spanning basic science in lung and pulmonary vascular diseases, clinical and translational research, outcomes and clinical informatics and participation in national research networks including PALISI and CPCCRN.
We are committed to providing outstanding education in pediatric critical care to learners across the continuum, and support an outstanding pediatric critical care medicine fellowship program to train the next generation of leaders in the field.
Our advanced practice providers contribute to the diverse missions in the section and support an innovative APP critical care training program.
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital Colorado provides comprehensive services for children with single or multiorgan system failure, complex severe chronic illness, those recovering from complex cardiac, orthopedic, neurologic and general surgeries, and patients undergoing solid organ transplantation. The PICU at Children's Hospital Colorado provides: Board-certified pediatricians and pediatric intensivists Emergency medical transport (ground and air) Intensive and intermediate care services (ICU step-down) Nurses with expertise in pediatric intensive care State-of-the-art life support and monitoring technologies 24-hour, in-house subspecialty care with fellow or attending pediatric intensive care specialists
Care is provided via an integrative approach, utilizing the expertise of pediatric intensivists, anesthesiologists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, and other medical subspecialists, as well as pediatric and subspecialty surgeons. These physicians are assisted by a highly trained and dedicated team of nurses. In addition, a constant presence of pharmacists, respiratory therapists, registered dieticians, and social workers allows us to provide the most technologically advanced medical support and service to the sickest children in the Rocky Mountain Region. Pediatric intensive care fellows, supervised by board certified pediatric intensivists, staff the PICU 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year allowing the delivery of complex therapies including V-A and V-V extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRT), high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). In addition, services and support are provided to active and expanding programs in lung, bone marrow, renal, and liver transplantation surgery as well as a level 1 trauma surgery program and active burn program.
Children's Hospital Colorado is a free-standing children's hospital affiliated with the University of Colorado. We offer a pediatric critical care fellowship designed for board-eligible pediatricians planning a career devoted to the care of the critically ill child.
Second- and third-year residents rotating through the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) are exposed to a medically and culturally diverse patient population, both culturally and medically. Placed in a pediatric hospital with 314 beds and serving a seven state catchment area, the PICU has 48 dedicated beds and accepts approaching 4,000 admissions each year with roughly half being medical and half surgical in nature.
The PICU enjoys full medical and surgical sub-specialty support allowing for exposure of the trainee to the full spectrum of critical illness in pediatrics. In addition to our Fellow and Resident educational programs, our PICU welcomes 4th year medical students with an interest in intensive care and strong letters of recommendation who wish to experience a sub-internship. We also provide clinical rotations for midlevel practitioner students (PA and NP) on a select basis, and a one-day shadow experience for EMS personnel.
The Pediatric Critical Care Section at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado is a leader in critical care research and dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, and treatment of critical illness in children. The program’s research spans diverse domains including vascular biology, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), long-term outcomes after critical illness, sepsis, traumatic brain injury, acute kidney injury, pulmonary hypertension, and innovative approaches to data science and clinical decision-making in pediatric critical care. The program integrates laboratory-based discoveries with clinical studies to improve patient outcomes and advance the field of pediatric critical care medicine. The program is also actively involved in the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN) and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) research network, ensuring collaborative, multi-institutional efforts to address critical questions in the field.
The program is supported by a robust research infrastructure, which includes a multidisciplinary team of experts to ensure high-quality study execution and data analysis. The support team consists of a statistician, data analyst support, and highly skilled research coordinators who manage the day-to-day logistics of studies. Oversight and strategic guidance are provided by a dedicated research program manager, alongside regulatory and financial specialists who ensure compliance with ethical standards and efficient resource management. Together, this collaborative framework enables the Pediatric Critical Care Program to conduct cutting-edge research that translates into meaningful advancements in the care of critically ill children.
The Pediatric Critical Care Section also includes the Cardiovascular Pulmonary Research Laboratories (CVP), which is a diverse team of laboratory-based researchers who study pulmonary vascular diseases including pulmonary hypertension, acute lung injury, and lung fibrosis. CVP has a long-standing record of excellence in research related to the effects of hypoxia on the pulmonary circulation, and cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension. CVP is also dedidated to training future leaders in pulmonary vascular diseases research. CVP supports a successful training program offering a competitive T32 funding support to postdoctoral fellows dedicated to pursuing a successful academic career in research.