Critical Care Medicine

The CCM administrative offices are located on the sixth floor of the West Tower of Texas Children's Hospital.

Baylor College of Medicine's Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Section, created in 1978, was one of only five pediatric critical care sections in the country at that time. Dr. Thomas Vargo was appointed as the first chief of the section. As the fledgling field of pediatric critical care medicine grew over the next two decades, so did the college's pediatric critical care section.

The Section of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine is a multi-disciplinary team of attending critical care physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, postdoctoral fellows, and research nurses. The section has 17 attending physicians headed by Dr. Larry Jefferson as the section chief. Two additional faculty members have appointments to the section as long-range transport physicians with the Kangaroo Crew. An expanding group of nurse practitioners and physician assistants along with 13 clinical postdoctoral fellows receiving sub-specialty training in pediatric critical care help ensure delivery of truly excellent medical care to pediatric patients from around the world.

The section is responsible for the 31-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on the third floor of the West Tower in Texas Children's Hospital. The PICU provides care for children with severe illnesses and injuries that require advanced technology such as mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy, and other supportive care. The section also oversees the care of many patients in the 36-bed Progressive Care Unit on the seventh floor of the West Tower. The PCU provides care for children with illnesses requiring more frequent observation or intervention than can be provided in the general care areas and frequently serves as a transition unit for patients from the PICU or operating room.

The pediatric critical care section participates in a variety of clinical research trials offering patients and their families the opportunity to access potentially life-saving therapies while adding to the body of pediatric medical knowledge. Individual faculty members also participate in additional research endeavors associated with BCM and its affiliated institutions.