Critical Care

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care at Oishei Children’s Hospital (OCH) maintains a standard of excellence in providing medical care for the infants and children of Western New York. It consistently strives for a degree of health care of the highest quality and order, grounded in the latest medical evidence, and utilizing some of the most state-of-the art technology.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at OCH is a 20-bed unit serving approximately 1,300 patients per year. As the only pediatric ICU in the Western New York area, this unit is well-equipped to care for the wide range of medical and surgical needs of its population. Board certified pediatric intensivists are available 24 hours a day to provide support. Under their care, patients have access to therapies such as high frequency ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide therapy, non-invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and general anesthesia.

The multidisciplinary The Alfiero Family PICU team consists of physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), nurses, respiratory therapists, clinical pharmacists, social workers, and nutritionists, all working together to provide outstanding, family-centered care. In addition, medical and surgical subspecialists from a multitude of disciplines are immediately available to the team, lending their expertise across a spectrum that includes neurosurgery, pediatric surgery, acute and chronic respiratory failure, hematologic and oncologic emergencies, and multi-organ dysfunction in the setting of severe sepsis. The Alfiero Family PICU also serves as the critical care arm of the Oishei Children's Hospital Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center.

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care employs faculty with a wide array of interests and areas of expertise, including pediatric anesthesia, ECMO, Apheresis therapies, mechanical ventilation, negative pressure ventilation, sepsis and septic shock, simulation and medical education. Together, they work with Oishei Children's Hospital's Pediatric Transport Team to bring the sick and injured children of the area to our hospital safely and efficiently, by ambulance, helicopter, and fixed-wing aircraft. Our critical care team also works side-by-side with Oishei Children's Hospital's Rapid Response Team, mobilizing personnel quickly and effectively to those children in need of additional support on the general pediatric wards.

The training of energetic, young physicians is at the heart of the division’s educational mission, and residents in the fields of categorical Pediatrics, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology, Anesthesiology, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellows, all experience rotations through the Alfiero Family PICU. Bringing together such a diverse collection of backgrounds and aspirations allows for the faculty and staff to tailor the educational opportunities afforded by the ICU to its trainees, and for those trainees to leave their individual footprint on the unit.

Additionally, the Division of Pediatric Critical Care has a three-year fellowship program accredited by the ACGME and designed to provide instruction and advanced training to outstanding individuals seeking to become remarkable clinicians, educators, and leaders in the field of critical care.

Oishei Children’s Hospital
818 Ellicott Street
Buffalo, NY 14203

PICU: 716.323.1900
Fax: 716.323.1316

Administrative Office: 716.323.0220
Fax: 716.323.0293