Critical Care Services
At Children's Medical CenterFrom the Director
Children's has been providing critical care to Dallas and North Texas for 93 years. In 1992, we opened a 26-bed pediatric ICU dedicated to serving the needs of critically ill infants and children. Then, nine years later, we opened an additional 11-bed unit dedicated to the care of children with cardiac disease. All of this was done with your support.
Dan Levin, M.D., had a vision for a 26-bed unit. Even though he has moved to another facility, we dedicated our new learning center to him and Dr. Fran Morriss. Dr. Levin was on the medical staff at Children's for 21 years, and Dr. Morriss continues as a medical staff member in the intensive care unit and in the operating room as an anesthesiologist.
Growth provides opportunities for improvements. To continue to ensure that we have the best-trained staff in all areas of critical care, we have six clinical educators and an education manager. During 2000 we created an educational program for cardiac care by providing several lectures in conjunction with UT Southwestern.
Another program we are proud to announce is an affiliation agreement with the University of Texas at Arlington to create an acute care nurse practitioner practice. Advances in medicine and the growth of our facility have led us to recognize the vital role that practitioners will fill in caring for your patients. We are well on our way in establishing a nurse practitioner practice within our critical care units and are excited to see the benefits practitioners provide to children within this environment.
Our research program continues to gain national recognition. We participated in a national nursing retention study in conjunction with the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI). Benefits of the study included exposure to various retention programs, vital for us in this critical time of national staff shortages.
As a result of increased admissions across the hospital and an increase in critical care patient days, an additional eight-bed trauma intensive care opened in 2001. In fall 2003, the PICU expanded to 63 total beds.
Continued growth in the Metroplex, the demand for more critical care beds and your request for our services prompt us to look to the future. Foundational plans for the next five years are under way and we hope you will be with us through the growing process. We appreciate your choosing our healthcare facility. Without you, our unit would not have the national recognition, the ability to participate in research nor the continued success in critical care advancements. We are always open to suggestions and input for improvement. Together, we will make life better for children. Thank you for your support.