Our intensive care unit is where we assist people needing the most intense monitoring and treatment. These are our sickest patients, and we have a highly skilled team to care for them. With ventilators, heart monitors and other medical equipment, the intensive care unit can sometimes be frightening. But we’ve designed our rooms to be as comfortable as possible.

The equipment is both state-of-the-art and designed with comfort in mind. Our “smart beds,” for example, have built-in scales that help us monitor your weight without you having to leave your bed and silicone-based mattresses that ease the pressure on your body. Roto beds that take weight off your lungs to improve your oxygen flow are available if you’re having trouble breathing.

Our family lounge is a place of comfort and respite and is close to patient rooms, so you’ll always be nearby. Our staff will keep you informed about your loved one’s condition and answer any questions you have. At Providence, we recognize that our patients aren’t the only people who need special care. We know how hard it is to see someone you love facing a life-threatening condition. Whether you need an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on, we’ll be by your side.

Our cardiac care unit is also known as our cardiac surgery single stay unit (CSSSU). This is the first-of-its-kind unit in Washington state. It offers a ground-breaking way to care for you if you have heart surgery.

Following your heart surgery, you go directly to a private room in the CSSSU and may remain there throughout your hospital stay. At first, you’ll receive critical care nursing. But as your condition improves, the focus will shift to therapies that prepare you to return home.

Critical care doctors are known as intensivists. At Providence, intensivists direct your care and work together with specially trained nurses who closely monitor your condition and deliver prescribed treatments. Most often, these nurses are responsible for just one or two patients, so they’ll be at your bedside often.

Depending on your reason for being in the critical care unit, your intensivist may bring in other specialists as needed.

Respiratory therapists may play a key role in your treatment, especially if you require a ventilator to help you breathe. Other members of your care team may include physical therapists to help you maintain or regain strength, pharmacists to help manage your medications and social workers to ensure you and your family have access to needed resources.

Many patients and their families find our chaplains can be a source of comfort and assistance during the challenging days of a critical care unit stay as well.