Pediatric ICU Now Open at Intermountain's Utah Valley Hospital

Staffed 24 hours a day by a pediatric ICU physician and specially trained nurses and respiratory therapists, the six-bed unit offers the highest level of care available to children in Utah County and throughout central Utah. The unit is also supported by several pediatric subspecialists including cardiology, infectious disease, neurology, radiology, gastroenterology, surgery and ENT surgery.

“Caring for critically ill children requires a comprehensive system designed around pediatric care. We have been building such a system for the past several years in anticipation of opening this unit. Our physicians and other caregivers are all specially trained in pediatric care and only care for children,” said Dr. Shad Outsen, a board-certified pediatric intensivist and medical director of the new unit.

All of Utah Valley’s PICU nurses trained at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City to be ready to care for patients on the new unit. The physicians in the new unit are all ICU physicians from Primary Children’s.  

Each of the PICU patient rooms is equipped with telehealth monitoring that includes two-way audio and video feeds. That means local caregivers will have support from additional PICU-trained nurses and physicians at Primary Children’s at a moment’s notice. This “extra set of eyes” is an important piece to providing exceptional care, said Dr. Outsen. “Our partnership with Primary Children’s Hospital is invaluable,” he added.

Pediatric ICUs use artificial life support devices such as breathing machines to treat children with life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia or shock. Children with chronic respiratory diseases, including those with artificial breathing tubes know as tracheostomy tubes, can now also be cared for at Utah Valley when they need to be hospitalized.  

“Opening this unit will let us keep more sick children close to home,” said Dr. Outsen.