Division of Pediatric Critical Care

Welcome

The first Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Florida was established at Shands Teaching Hospital in 1967. The current Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is a 24-bed medical-surgical unit that cares for children from birth to 21 years of age. With a catchment area encompassing north Florida and south Georgia, our unit treats an average of 1300 patients per year and is the state’s premier children’s hospital.

The PICU at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital is a level one pediatric trauma center and works closely with nearly every pediatric medical and surgical subspecialty. Medical subspecialties include Cardiology, Nephrology, Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Neurology, Rheumatology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Hematology/Oncology and Genetics. Surgical subspecialties include General Pediatric Surgery, Otolaryngology, Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics.  A separate 22-bed cardiac intensive care unit cares for children with congenital and acquired heart disease and is supported by the Congenital Heart Center. The PICU and PCICU support cardiac and non-cardiac ECMO and solid organ transplantation for heart, lung, and kidney.