When children are severely ill or critically injured, they need specialized care—ideally in a space designed just for them. The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center offers patients and their families just that—a unique environment to receive care and stay together. This life-saving unit features 22 beds, a dedicated pediatric burn treatment room, family locker rooms, sleep and shower spaces, a respite lounge and a play area for patient and sibling activities.

Often times, children treated in the PICU are admitted from the Emergency Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital – the first Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in the region and a part of the busiest Level I Trauma Center in the country. As part of the Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center campus, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital serves as the only hospital in Greater Houston capable of treating the entire family unit in the same facility, including neonatal, pediatric and adults. The Children’s PICU is integral to a patient’s care journey when faced with a critical medical condition.

In addition to trauma, children are often cared for in the PICU before and after complex neurosurgical procedures, severe trauma including burns, and major pediatric surgery, including transplantation. The Children’s PICU can also accommodate children with conditions ranging from critical medical disorders to everyday illnesses such as RSV and the flu when severe symptoms are present, and a patient needs extra support and attention.

For children experiencing heart conditions or requiring major cardiac surgery, the intensive care unit of the Children’s Heart Institute at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital can provide the most advanced technology and equipment for babies and children in need of specialized care.

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About the Team

The care team at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital consists of pediatric critical care medicine physicians and hospitalists affiliated with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. These providers offer 24-hour, in-house coverage to ensure that patients with intensive care needs receive the best care possible. The board-certified or board-eligible clinicians work to help our pediatric patients get better by providing treatment using the latest in technology and medical advancements.

The PICU nursing team is highly specialized and trained in the latest procedures and standards related to caring for children. Also, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital is a recipient of the silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), and is also a Magnet-designated facility that has proven a commitment to innovations and achievements in professional nursing practice and excellence in patient care.

Our multidisciplinary team of health care professionals in the PICU also includes:

Together, every member of the team offers care and support to any patient just as if they were members of our family.

Children’s Transport Team

The Children’s Transport Team features a team of nurses and respiratory therapists, led by affiliated pediatric and neonatal physicians highly experienced in critical care. The transport team is on call around the clock every day and regularly transports neonatal and pediatric patients from community hospitals, other emergency centers and clinics to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital when a higher level of care is required, often in the PICU. The team is ready and equipped to transport patients via ambulance, Memorial Hermann Life Flight® or fixed-wing aircraft.

For more information about the Children’s Transport Team, click here »

Family-Centered Care

At Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, we believe that the partnership between patients, families and health care providers is based on the realization that what we do together is greater than what one can do alone.

Our multidisciplinary approach to family-centered care involves parent participation in addition to the medical care team. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to participate in daily medical rounds with their child’s medical team. The PICU team and staff also partner with the Pediatric Parent Advisory Council (PPAC). The PPAC is a partnership of parents, family members and staff working together to better meet the needs of our patients and their families. The group meets monthly to discuss patient care, the environment, policies and ways to improve the overall patient and family experience. 

Learn more or join the PPAC today »

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)

Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital is one of only two hospitals in Houston offering ECMO, which is used for newborns and children who are critically ill with respiratory failure or who are recovering after cardiac surgery. A lifesaving technique often set up in the PICU, ECMO supports the function of the heart and lungs, allowing an infant or child to rest while healing of the organs naturally takes place. ECMO services are available in the PICU and the ICU in the Children’s Heart Institute. The Pediatric ECMO Program at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital has been recognized by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) as a Designated Center of Excellence since the inception of the award in 2006.

Click here to learn more about ECMO services »

Visiting Hours

Because we recognize that the family presence is comforting and reassuring to your child, we welcome family visits.

Please know that there may be additional PICU visitor guidelines. If your child is a PICU patient, please ask nursing or administrative staff for more information.

Ronald McDonald House

Families of children in the PICU can rest and recharge in the home-away-from-home environment of the Ronald McDonald House located within Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. A true collaboration between the hospital and Ronald McDonald House Houston, the House also includes rooms that serve the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Children’s Heart Institute. If your child stays in the PICU, please check with a member of your care team to learn more about utilizing the Ronald McDonald House inside Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Pediatric Intensive Care Gallery

Patient Stories

  • patient dottie posing at park

    Dottie's Heart Journey: A Tale of Resilience, Faith and a Life Without Limits

    Navigating this amazing journey, Dottie’s parents, Brad and Caitlin, were by her side, backed by the medical team at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital where she was transferred after birth. From fetal heart diagnostics to the heart-wrenching uncertainties that followed, their daugh...

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  • patient ripp in swing

    Ripp’s story: Family credits Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital’s affiliated trauma team and TIRR Memorial Hermann for son’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury following a tractor accident.

    On September 24, 2022, Chase and Kendall had a few friends over at their family farm in El Campo where they gathered around the fire pit, grilling fajitas. It was supposed to be a fun and relaxing afternoon on the farm. But then, in a matter of minutes, everything changed so quickly. Ripp had bee...

    Read More
  • Kevin and Karla Urrutia

    Kevin and Karla: Supraglottoplasty for Neonatal Laryngomalacia

    Kevin and Karla Urrutia were born at term, but as twins they were both underweight – the boy weighing in at 4 pounds 10 ounces and the girl at 4 pounds 15 ounces. “Karla was eating fine after birth, but Kevin had stridor caused by a soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx that ob...

    Read More
  • Brittany

    Brittany's Story: Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury

    In November 2008, Brittany and her family were moving from College Station to Katy when they had an accident on a two-lane road. Brittany, 11, hit the roof of the van and sustained a T5 spinal cord injury, several broken bones, a collapsed lung and other internal injuries. She was rushed to Memor...

    Read More
  • Read about Lexie Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury

    Lexie's Story: Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury

    Eleven-year-old Lexie Bolds was having fun visiting a friend in Jasper, Texas, when she was involved in an accident that left her with a broken neck and arm. She injured vertebrae C2-C4 and injured her spinal cord at C4. Rushed to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center by Life Flight® helicopt...

    Read More

Location

Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Hermann Pavilion, Level 3
6411 Fannin Street
Houston, TX 77030

Contact Us

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If you need more immediate assistance, please call us at (713) 704-KIDS (5437).