Compassionate Care for Critical Cases

When your child needs special care for intensive care conditions, they can be in no better hands than those of the PICU at CHRISTUS Health. Our Pediatric Critical Care Unit is comprised of a dedicated Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit (PIMC) providing seamless care to critically ill children and their families. We are dedicated to providing quality, collaborative, and innovative care to our patients. Our teams are readily available to provide pediatric transport, respiratory or cardiac ECMO, cardiac services, and surgical services. Our physicians are board-certified pediatricians and pediatric intensivists. With a multidisciplinary approach, we work in conjunction with specialists and are able to provide comprehensive care to all children in the PICU 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Gold Level PICU Facility in Texas

CHRISTUS Children's is the only PICU in the state of Texas to be recognized with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) Gold Level Beacon Award of Excellence, emphasizing our dedication and commitment to providing the highest level of intensive care to the children in our community. In addition, our ECMO program is nationally recognized as a Center of Excellence by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization since 2010.

About Our Pediatric Care Unit

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at CHRISTUS Children's maintains a total of 24 beds and provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art care to critically ill infants, children, and adolescents who require continuous monitoring, complex treatments, and specialized nursing and medical care. The unit is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by in-house pediatric intensivists, as well as multiple pediatric residents, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, highly trained nurses, and respiratory therapists. 

Private physicians and surgeons work in conjunction with academic pediatric specialists from the Baylor College of Medicine to assure the highest quality of care. We provide comprehensive and age-appropriate care that is evidence-based and incorporates new technology, innovation, and research. Patient- and Family-Centered Care are important and embedded into the PICU Standards of Care for all pediatric patients.

Common Conditions

Specialty Services

At CHRISTUS Health, we have multiple specialty programs, therapy, and services to help with critical conditions, which include:

• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)
• Full Therapeutic Apheresis services
• Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) and Peritoneal Dialysis
• High-frequency ventilation

What is the Beacon Award for Excellence?

The Beacon Award for Excellence is a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments and recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that earn this three-year, three-level award with a Gold, Silver, or Bronze designation meet national criteria consistent with Magnet Recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and the National Quality Healthcare Award.

How We Earned the Gold Beacon Award

The PICU earned the Gold Beacon Award designation by meeting the following evidence-based criteria:

• Leadership Structures and Systems
• Appropriate Staffing and Staff Engagement
• Effective Communication, Knowledge Management, Learning, and Development
• Evidence-Based Practices and Processes
• Outcome Measurement