Changes in the Delivery of Pediatric Critical Care

The pediatric critical care inpatient census has grown much faster than the general inpatient population over the last decade in Colorado and around the country. In addition, we have made advances in our critical care interventions that have improved outcomes for kids being treated in this setting over the last decade.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss delivery of pediatric critical care

In this episode, we talk with Todd Carpenter, MD, and Cameron Gunville, DO, about drivers behind the general growth in pediatric critical care bed occupancy. We also discuss the most important critical care interventions in the last 10 years that have benefited children and the important outcome metrics that define success in pediatric critical care.

Dr. Carpenter is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s Hospital Colorado and a Professor of Pediatrics and Critical Care at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Gunville is the Associate Medical Director of the PICU at Children’s Colorado and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Critical Care at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• Why the pediatric critical care population is growing so quickly relative to the rest of the hospital
• How big our ICU was 20 years ago compared to today
• What defines successful patient outcomes
• Our performance relative to our peers
• Team resilience and team dynamics and how that corresponds to the great outcomes we have in the PICU
• Important critical care interventions in the last 10 years that have made a difference in survival rates and length of stay
• The focus for the future for pediatric critical care
• Diversification of the frontline provider teams from physicians only to a broader range of providers
• What Drs. Carpenter and Gunville do to keep coming back and stay focused and resilient on clinical care when things are challenging in the environment around them

Pediatric critical care at Children’s Colorado

We have one of the most technologically advanced PICUs in the Rocky Mountain region. With PICUs in both the Denver metro area and in Colorado Springs, we are equipped to care for the most serious and complex pediatric conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.