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Intensive Care (ICU)

What Is the ICU?

Learning that you or someone you love is being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can be scary. It’s important to keep in mind that this is the best place for them to receive the dedicated care they need.

The ICU is one of the few hospital departments where patients are under 24/7 observation by specially trained medical professionals. If anything should change in the patient’s condition, our team will be ready to take action at a moment’s notice.

Recognized For Working To Achieve Optimal Patient Care
The Intensive Care Unit at St. Cloud Hospital has been awarded a Gold-Level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. The Gold-Level Beacon Award signifies continuous learning and effective systems to achieve the best outcomes for our patients

Patient & Family-Centered Care

We encourage visiting, but keep in mind the patient’s need for rest, quiet and privacy. Children under the age of 18 should be accompanied by an adult. If you have a cold or the flu, please do not visit.

Patients and families are encouraged to take part in our daily multidisciplinary team rounding to support their loved ones.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

No one imagines a child’s birth turning into a long hospital stay. But, if needed, our level II and III NICU offer highly specialized, quality care for newborns who need it.

  • Rapid response transport team:
    This specialized team knows how to evaluate, stabilize and transport babies. If you give birth elsewhere, know your baby will be in safe hands throughout the journey to St. Cloud Hospital.
  • Team approach:
    We have 24/7 coverage by neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners and specialized nurses. The team also may include a case manager, social worker, dietitian, developmental specialist, breastfeeding consultant and others.
  • Highly specialized, yet intimate setting:
    Parents are welcome 24 hours a day. You have direct access to the neonatologists. We will help you gain confidence in the care of your child by giving you as many chances as possible to learn about and care for your baby.
  • March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program:
    This program helps families with their hospital stay and transition home. Support Program staff provide education in a dedicated Parent Respite Room, where you can watch TV and meet other NICU parents within a relaxing atmosphere.
  • Quality care:
    Our NICU has top outcomes when benchmarking against other hospitals within the internationally renowned Vermont Oxford Network.
  • Access to other services:
    We work to get your child home as soon as possible. After your child leaves, your doctor may suggest our Infant & Child Development Clinic or Infant Apnea Program. The apnea program assesses and treats infants at risk for, or who have, apnea (absent breathing) and/or bradycardia (slow heart rate).

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)/Pediatric Progressive Care Unit (PPCU)

When your child needs critical care, you need professionals who you can trust. Our PICU gives one-to-one nursing care and expanded monitoring capabilities to children in Central Minnesota with unstable, life-threatening conditions. The PICU is staffed by doctors trained in pediatric critical care medicine along with specially trained nurses. As children improve, they move to our PPCU.