Critical Care

As our population ages and once-fatal diseases are now being managed chronically, the percentage of patients requiring Critical Care services is increasing at an epidemic rate. At The Ohio State University Medical Center, we recognize the importance of meeting this need, selecting the field of Critical Care as one of our six Signature Programs.

We have also created the Center for Critical Care, a platform of collaboration providing innovative solutions for patients undergoing critical care and for those with lung disease. The Center’s vision is pursuing an integrated critical care delivery system that creates a better future for patients with life-threatening illness through research, education and innovative patient care. Through personalized care, we’re focusing on defining illness and treatment for each patient, while transitioning care from disease management to disease prevention.

The Medical Center’s tradition of excellence in Critical Care places us in a strong position to grow as the national leader in this emerging field. Our Critical Care Signature Program works closely with our Cancer and Neurosciences Signature Programs. Through the platform of personalized health care, we have the unique opportunity to transform not only Critical Care, but the way medicine is practiced. Using novel life-saving treatments and research to link outcomes with clinical, laboratory and genetic information, we employ a personalized approach to Critical Care, with the goal of enhancing the length and quality of life for survivors of illnesses that require these services.

The Critical Care program at Ohio State has several competitive advantages:

Only dedicated Medical and Surgical Intensive Care units (MICU, SICU) in central Ohio, offering comprehensive services and specialties.
Only area MICU and SICUs ranked among the nation’s top performers, according to a UHC comparative study.
All Medical Center Critical Care physicans, known as intensivists, are board-certified or board-eligible, 10 of which were named America’s Best Doctors list in 2005 (the only intensivists named to the list in central Ohio).
Demonstrated success at securing extramural funding, including $10 million in research funding over the past five years.
Established the Center for Critical Care Medicine, one of the few such centers in the United States.

Critical Care at Ohio State includes:

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)
Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU)
University Hospital East ICU
Cardiac ICU (Ross Heart Hospital)
Blood Marrow Transplant Unit (BMTU) at The James
o The BMTU is a special inpatient nursing unit designed to care for persons having a bone or blood stem cell transplant – a procedure that requires the expertise of physicians and nursing staff trained in critical care techniques.
OSU Burn Center
o The only adult burn center in central Ohio, providing both inpatient and outpatient care for burn wounds and complex burn management.
Level 1 Trauma Center
o Ohio State's Emergency Department is the only one in central Ohio with hyperbaric medicine facilities designated specifically for emergency care. Designated a Level 1 trauma center by the American College of Surgeons, our Emergency Department is widely recognized for our expertise in the care of trauma patients with on-site physicians in more than 40 medical specialties.
Comprehensive Wound Center
o The Comprehensive Wound Center – the only center of its kind in central Ohio – offers patients the most advanced wound healing therapies at two convenient locations, Martha Morehouse Medical Plaza and University Hospital East. Our physicians are specially trained in wound care and hyperbaric medicine, addressing conditions that lead to healing difficulties, such as diabetes or vascular disease.