Patients with life-threatening illnesses and injuries are in good hands in the Critical Care Unit at Mount Sinai Queens. Our unit is staffed by intensivists, physician specialists who are trained in critical care medicine, as well as specialized nurses experienced in critical care. Both the intensive care unit (ICU) and the intermediate care unit (IMCU) provide ongoing clinical monitoring and state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment capabilities.

Coordinated Care

Our Critical Care team collaborates with patients’ primary care physicians and consultant specialists to ensure coordinated care with real-time access to continually updated information using Mount Sinai Queens’ award-winning electronic medical record system.

The Critical Care team is committed to continuous quality improvement. Two recent projects include the Respiratory Failure Pathway and “Early Mobilization of Mechanically Ventilated Patients,” to decrease time on the ventilator, rates of complications, and rates of hospital acquired infections such as ventilator-associated events (VAEs).

The critical care team regularly holds family meetings. These meetings also include the Social Worker, Care Manager, along with a Chaplain, and Palliative Care services, as appropriate, to ensure the plan of care supports the established goals of care.

Patients may be admitted from the Emergency Department or transferred within Mount Sinai Queens following surgery or for treatment of infections, heart conditions, stroke, or severe breathing problems. They may be managed in the ICU or the IMCU depending on the severity of their conditions. Patients who become medically stable, but still require continuous heart and other clinical monitoring, are transferred to the IMCU, where they are closely monitored.

Excellence in Stroke Care

Patients who have suffered a stroke receive the highest quality care at Mount Sinai Queens, we are the only hospital in Queens designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health, and The Joint Commission, demonstrating our commitment to excellence in stroke patient care.

Select patients are eligible for neuro interventional procedures such as neuro thrombectomy, the removal of a clot using a catheter and image guidance.

For patients who have suffered cardiac arrest, our critical care team members are trained to employ therapeutic hypothermia, which intentionally cools down a patient’s body to minimize the likelihood of brain damage following a heart attack.

We are proud to provide comprehensive critical care for our patients and their families in our hospital setting.

Meet Our Team

Steven Chao, MD
Director, Medical Critical Care

Bernard Biviano, MD
Surgical Intensivist

Charles Liu, MD
Intensivist/Pulmonologist

Cecilia Martin-Dabu, RN, BSN, MSN
Director Critical Care Nursing
718-267-5908