An intensive care nurse

When your heart is on the mend, you have a lot on your mind. We’ll help you to rest a little easier by providing the highest level of care – nonstop. Our best teams, technology and resources are at your side, so you can get better as comfortably, safely and soon as possible.

The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center offers smart, minute-by-minute care after major heart surgery or throughout a complex condition such as organ transplant or illness. Critical care doctors, nurses and technicians – assisted by sophisticated medical monitoring – work tirelessly day and night to help you heal.

Our cardiac care specialists treat people who have a wide range of serious or life-threatening heart and medical conditions requiring advanced care and expertise. Your doctor may advise this level of care for you if you are suffering with or recovering from conditions like these:

  • Cardiac arrhythmias
  • Congenital heart conditions
  • Heart attack or heart disease
  • Heart transplant
  • Infection
  • Kidney, lung or other organ transplant
  • Lung disease
  • Mechanical heart implant
  • Open heart surgery
  • Thoracic (chest and lung) surgery

We offer different types of cardiac units that give you the appropriate level of care for your condition and recovery. They include:

Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)

Our CICU has 22 beds dedicated to high-level medical care. Each room is fully equipped and staffed to care for critically ill people who require intensive monitoring and critical care nursing. You’ll have ventilator equipment and IV or catheter-tube lines to help you breathe, get nutrition and manage basic bodily functions.

Each room focuses on acute care, including:

  • Continuous heart and condition monitors. Medical lines track and record vital signs such as breathing and blood pressure and other details such as blood vessel function, intracardiac pressures (within your heart) and pulse oximetry (red blood cell oxygen). Care teams are alerted and respond promptly if something is wrong.
  • Cardiac equipment and support. Certain conditions require internally implanted heart-support devices such as intra-aortic balloon pumps or ventricular-assist devices. Our care teams understand how to manage their specialized care and have supportive equipment, such as ventilators, readily at hand.
  • Highly-skilled nurses and care providers. Doctors and nurses with advanced critical care certification oversee your care, supported by technicians with acute-care expertise.
Advanced Care Units

The Advanced Care Units located on the sixth and eighth floors of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center have 90 beds. These “step down” nursing units are designed for those who are still recovering but no longer need the intensive critical care of CICU.

Rooms in our Advanced Care Units are equipped and staffed for high-level care, including a central cardiac monitoring system, which  allows heart specialists to monitor your condition around the clock and a specialized care team. You’ll be cared for by registered nurses, cardiac rehabilitation nurses, technicians and other specially trained professionals. They’ll help you get stronger through physical therapies and other treatments as you prepare to return home.

Mobile Intensive Care

At Providence, CICU nurses are part of the MOBI (mobile intensive care unit) program. This offers careful, dedicated transport for patients who need cardiac-assist devices and advanced life support. Doctors may also order this mobile intensive care for people coming from or going to surgery for thoracic (chest and lung) organ procedures or other complicated procedures.

Cardiac Imaging

Throughout your stay your doctor will use various imaging techniques to see your heart’s function and structure. This helps them evaluate your condition and progress. You may have these or other imaging tests:

  • Chest X-ray
  • CT scan
  • Echocardiograms
  • Electrocardiogram
  • MRI

In addition to specialty and subspecialty doctors from varied areas of medicine, these care providers are part of your Providence CICU team:

  • Anesthesiologists
  • Cardiac rehabilitation nurses
  • Cardiologists
  • Cardiothoracic surgeons
  • Cardiovascular surgeons
  • Cardiovascular technicians
  • Critical care nurses
  • Hospitalists
  • Intensivists
  • Interventional cardiologists
  • Nurse practitioners
  • Pharmacists
  • Physical therapists
  • Physician assistants
  • Radiologists
  • Registered dietitians
  • Registered nurses
  • Respiratory therapists
  • Social workers

Awards

  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Heart Attack
  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Heart Bypass Surgery
  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Heart Failure
  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Aortic Valve Surgery
  • U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 High-Performing Hospital for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
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THE POWER OF OUR NETWORK 

Part of Providence Spokane Heart Institute

For over 60 years our patients have been the heart of everything we do.

  • You’ll experience innovative heart care here. Our Spokane doctors pioneered emergency surgery to repair heart arteries during a heart attack to make treatment less invasive.
  • With the only heart transplant center and the only adult and teen congenital heart center in the Inland Northwest, we are here for your heart care.
  • With six hospitals and more than 20 outreach locations, you can access leading-edge care close to home.

Learn More About Providence Spokane Heart Institute