Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine

ANESTHESIOLOGY

UCMG physicians in the Department of Anesthesiology provide care for infants and children of all ages. All of the attending staff are pediatric specialty trained and/or board certified in anesthesiology and all practice full time pediatric anesthesia. Several members of the Department also are board certified in other specialties such as pediatrics, critical care medicine and pain management.

The Department also trains residents in all aspects of pediatric anesthesiology and also offers a fellowship program in pediatric general and cardiac anesthesia.

Consultation is available in all aspects of pediatric anesthesia and pain management.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Departmental grand rounds are held each Thursday from 7:00 am to 8:00 am in the Weingart auditorium. All practitioners are welcome to attend.

An annual pediatric anesthesiology symposium is held on the last weekend in January or the first weekend in February at the Disneyland Hotel. Information on this AMA approved CME activity may be obtained by calling (323) 669-2262.

PHYSICIANS



CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

UCMG physicians in the Division of Critical Care Medicine provide services for two intensive care units - the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit, an integral part of The Heart Institute at CHLA. Seven UCMG pediatric intensivists practice within the Divison. Many of them are double and triple board certified with expertise in cardiology and anesthesiology in addition to their training in general pediatrics and pediatric critical care.

UCMG physicians in the Divison of Critical Care Medicine also manage the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

Description of Programs and Services

  • Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)

    The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is a 20 bed, state-of-the-art intensive care facility that manages approximately 100 critically ill children per month. It is the best-equipped and largest Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on the West Coast. UCMG intensivists within the Division provide pediatric intensive care for the Level I Pediatric Trauma center at CHLA (the only Level I trauma center in the Los Angeles area dedicated solely to children) and provide tertiary and quaternary pediatric critical care for all of Southern California. Within the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit children who have undergone surgery from multiple surgical specialities including neurosurgery, orthopaedics and general pediatric surgery receive advanced level care. UCMG physicians in the Division have pioneered pulmonary function testing in critically ill infants and neonates as well as advanced respiratory support including high frequency oscillation and liquid ventilation. The patients in this ICU are characterized by having higher severity of illness indices than is the national average for pediatric critical care units.

  • Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU)

    A key part of The Heart Institute at CHLA, , the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit manages critically ill children with cardiologic disease. The largest number of these patients have had surgery, including surgical management for heart and lung transplantation, Norwood procedures and advanced cardiologic disease. The CTICU admitted more than 900 patients last year. This unit has an extremely high level of acuity and serves as a referral center for congenital heart disease in the Western half of the United States.

  • Children's Critical Care Resources

    The Divison is taking a national and international leadership role as an active resource for children's critical care in Southern California, nationally and internationally. A goal of the Division is to develop a "virtual intensive care unit" which links leading pediatric critical care units across the United States and throughout the world. (www.picu.com) This virtual ICU will provide, for the first time, a data base for research, protocol, development and improved efficiency of care delivery in pediatric critical care medicine. The ability to provide total quality management for large numbers of critically ill children will improve care of critically ill children throughout the country and at an increasingly efficient cost. This process relies upon the already existing extensive informatics infrastructure of critical care medicine at CHLA and further integration nationally.

  • Educational Activities

    The Division of Critical Care Medicine recognizes its role in teaching not only residents, nursing students and respiratory therapists, but also advanced trainees in critical care medicine and provides fellowship training in cardiology and cardiothoracic intensive care. This consists of didactic lectures to the fellows, constant one on one mentoring and bedside teaching rounds in the intensive care unit. In addition, the intensive care unit has been involved with the community and provided lecture series for community hospitals, including such topics as Pediatric Critical Care Transport, Shock Lung Syndrome and Ventilator Management.

PHYSICIANS


HOW TO CONTACT US

The Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine welcomes your inquiries. To contact us you can:


Call the Department of Anesthesiology directly at:

(323) 669-2262

Call the Division of Critical Care Medicine directly at:
(323) 669-2557

Write to us at:
Department of Anesthesiology
Critical Care Medicine
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
4650 Sunset Blvd., #3
Los Angeles, CA 90027-6062

Email us at:
Kprice@chla.usc.edu

If you have questions related to the Anesthesiology fellowship program, you may contact Dr. Gary Scott at (323) 669-2262.

If you have questions related to Critical Care Medicine fellowship program, you may contact Dr. Margaret Schwarz at (323) 669-2557.



Return to menu