Critical Care at UPMC Hamot

The care of critically ill patients at UPMC Hamot is provided in one of several intensive care units (ICUs). These units serve the special care needs of patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, as well as patients who are undergoing major surgical procedures.

Critical care services are provided in one of our three ICUs that are focused on the care of critically ill medical, surgical, and cardiovascular patients in 42 ICU beds.

Treating People With Critical Injuries and Illnesses

UPMC Hamot’s ICU provides care for patients with the following problems:

Multisystem trauma, including severe brain injury
Complex medical patients, including multiple organ failure and shock
Stroke
High-risk cardiac surgical and vascular procedures

UPMC Hamot also offers a Transitional Care Unit (TCU), or step-down unit, which cares for patients who require close monitoring but do not present the critical care needs of ICU patients.

Our Critical Care Team

Assisted by state-of-the-art monitoring and life support technology, ICU care is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals, including board-certified intensive care physicians (intensivists) for patients with the most complex multisystem critical illnesses.

Our multidisciplinary critical care team includes:

Advanced practice providers
Dietitians
Nurses
Pharmacists
Respiratory care therapists
Other medical consultants from a broad range of specialties

Our Vision

The Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh has recently joined its resources with those at UPMC Hamot. Our vision is to create a world-class regional center of excellence for the care of critically ill patients at UPMC Hamot.

This association will allow our critical care services to leverage the expertise of more than 50 years of critical care training, research, and care. We aim to facilitate the realization of a system of critical care that provides the highest quality of care while emphasizing a culture of teamwork, patient safety, cutting-edge best practices, family support, and adaptability to a rapidly changing landscape.

Patient Care Tower

As UPMC Hamot's regional presence as a tertiary hub has expanded in recent years, it means more acutely ill patients need a higher quality of care. In 2021, a seven-story patient care tower housing two new intensive care units opened at UPMC Hamot. Located between the main hospital building and Magee-Womens, UPMC Hamot, the patient care tower is the biggest capital project in UPMC Hamot's history.

The patient care tower features:

64 critical care beds to accommodate critically ill, trauma, and surgery patients.
An expanded radiology department that includes a 3T MRI.
Strategically positioned nurses stations that allow staff to see patients as well as monitor them electronically.
Nurses alcoves located directly outside each patient room, where staff has immediate access to patient information and the ability to see directly into two adjacent rooms.