The Alice Gottesman Bayer Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital provides specialized and compassionate care for critically ill children from infancy through age 21. Our dedicated team offers technologically advanced, high-quality, and family-centered care. We have 15 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, admitting approximately 1,200 patients each year. We also participate actively in many quality assurance initiatives that are ongoing throughout the hospital.

Staff in our PICU work closely with the Mount Sinai Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU), which is located adjacent to the PICU.

We provide technologically advanced, high-quality, family-centered, compassionate care and participate actively in many ongoing quality assurance initiatives throughout the hospital.

Our Expert and Collaborative Care Team

At the heart of our PICU is a multidisciplinary team of experts committed to your child’s well-being. This dedicated team of professionals will collaborate on your child's care plan, ensuring all aspects of their needs are addressed.

• Attending Physicians (Pediatric Intensivists): Your child’s care will be led by one of our board-certified pediatric intensivists who specialize in pediatric critical care medicine, work closely with residents and fellows (doctors in specialty training), consulting specialists (such as cardiologists and neurologists), and surgeons to provide comprehensive and coordinated care.
• Magnet-Recognized Nurses: Our critical care staff includes Magnet-recognized nurses who are acknowledged for their excellence in nursing and who specialize in critical care.
• Comprehensive Support Staff: Our team also includes dedicated pediatric pharmacists, rehabilitation specialists (physical, occupational, and speech therapists), social workers, nutritionists, respiratory therapists, and child-life specialists, all working together to support your child and family.

Advanced Care and Treatments

Our PICU is equipped to provide a wide range of advanced therapies and treatments for critically ill children:

• Advanced Renal Replacement Therapies: Including dialysis and continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH).
• Therapeutic Hypothermia: A procedure to protect the brain, spinal cord and other organs from damage.
• Advanced Ventilation Modes: including nitric oxide therapy and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation.
• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Program: In collaboration with the Mount Sinai Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU), which is located adjacent to our unit, we offer a comprehensive ECMO program. ECMO is an advanced life support system that provides cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are unable to function adequately on their own. Our integrated team of intensivists, cardiac surgeons, specialized nurses, and respiratory therapists work together to provide this critical therapy.
• Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Support: Also offered in conjunction with the PCICU for children with severe heart failure.

• Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU): Located within the telemetry area on the fourth floor of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, our EMU provides continuous monitoring for children with critical care needs who require epilepsy monitoring. This state-of-the-art unit serves patients from newborn to 21 years old and is staffed by Magnet-credentialed nursing and world-renowned neurologists, epileptologists, advanced practice nurses, and neurosurgeons. Mount Sinai’s EMU is recognized with the highest level of accreditation by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers and participates in advanced programs and research studies.

• Transplant Support: We are an essential unit for the care of children undergoing renal, liver, small bowel, and cardiac transplantation.

Family Focus

We understand that having a child in the PICU is stressful experience for families. We are committed to providing support and creating a comfortable environment for you.

• Visiting and Staying with Your Child: We encourage parents and guardians to stay with their child. Both parents/guardians have 24-hour access, and one parent/guardian may sleep at the bedside. A family lounge and additional sleep space, as well as a private family meeting room, are located adjacent to the PICU.  
• Visiting Hours for Others: Visiting hours for individuals other than parents/guardians are 9 am to 9 pm.
• Visitor Guidelines:
  • Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Children under 18 (including siblings) cannot stay overnight.
  • Visiting is limited to two visitors at a time (excluding parents/guardians).
  • Please call 212-241-8132 at any time, 24 hours a day, to check on your child.
  • Visitors with any infectious respiratory illness should not enter a patient room.
• Family Pantry: We offer a family pantry with a refrigerator within the PICU to help you feel more at home.
• Breastfeeding Support: To make it easy for you to breastfeed your sick child, we provide breast pumps for nursing mothers (please ask your child’s nurse) and have a designated refrigerator for breast milk storage. Lactation consultants are also available upon request.

Child Life Services: While children in the PICU may not be able to visit the Child Life Zone, our Child Life therapists can provide age-appropriate toys and activities at the bedside if your child is feeling well enough to play. We also offer music therapy and pet therapy to help soothe and entertain your child.

Family-and-Patient Activated Pediatric Rapid Response Team

• You are a vital part of your child’s care team. While we are responsible for providing medical care, you know your child best.
• What is the Rapid Response Team? The Rapid Response Team is a special team of trained clinicians that can be called by your child’s nurse if your child’s condition changes or if urgent medical help is needed. They will respond quickly to check on your child.
• When to Call the Team? If you believe something is not right with your child, or if you have medical concerns, you can request the Pediatric Rapid Response Team be called to your child’s bedside. Please inform your child’s nurse if you have these concerns. 

This team is dedicated to responding swiftly when urgent medical attention is required.