Emory Healthcare (EHC) has 354 adult intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The Emory Critical Care Center's (ECCC) horizontal integration paradigm empowers us to deliver a nationally recognized clinical program on this expansive scale. Our high-quality, multiprofessional, and multidisciplinary training programs underscore our commitment to contemporary, holistic approaches to critical care. With an extensive range of critical care services and a fertile environment for research and development, our clinical programs are as diverse as they are integral to the advancement of critical care as a discipline.
The ECCC works in close partnership with the leadership of EHC and its individual hospitals to meet the evolving needs of critically ill patients within a high acuity, quaternary referral academic healthcare system. We are guided by a vision to assert ourselves as global torchbearers in academic critical care. In the face of the challenges posed by an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, our unwavering dedication to our mission, vision, and values—tightly aligned with those of EHC—ensures our resilience and continued growth.
The ECCC began in 2009 under the leadership of its founding director, Dr. Timothy Buchman. Amidst organizational growth, EHC sought to consolidate its critical care programs within the ECCC. His mandate was to integrate intensive care units throughout EHC. The ECCC set out to not only accomplish that goal but also revolutionize approaches to critical care with a vision that has since transformed the landscape of critical care not just locally but nationally.
The ECCC expanded its operations and eventually grew to encompass six EHC hospitals: Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital, Emory Johns Creek Hospital, Emory Decatur Hospital, and Emory Hillandale Hospital. Our multidisciplinary team grew to include critical care physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), and nurses working alongside pharmacists, respiratory therapists, nutrition support specialists, and consultant physicians from dozens of medical specialties.
In 2014, the ECCC introduced an innovative tele-critical care program, the eICU. Funded by a $10.7 million Health Care Innovation Award, the program was designed to expand access to critical care services, lower costs, and tackle the issue of a national shortage of critical care physicians. Through a combination of continuous remote monitoring, care model evolutions to include APP training, and remote physician oversight, the eICU yielded improved care at lower cost. Emory's eICU has been recognized for improving the patient care experience, reducing length of stay, and extending access to critical care expertise, marking a significant milestone in the ECCC's journey to redefine critical care
The Center has made significant strides in research, in partnership with departments and faculty across the Emory University School of Medicine. Relevant areas of focus include gut integrity, the immunological host response in sepsis, physiological dynamics, predictive biology, patient monitoring, and care at the end of life. The ECCC sponsors a one-year NP/PA post-graduate fellowship, a training program designed to groom the next generation of critical care APPs. The ECCC also partners with critical care physician training programs across all departments to further the educational mission.
In 2018, Dr. Craig Coopersmith assumed leadership as the ECCC’s interim Director and was later named the Director in 2020. Recognized as an innovative leader in critical care medicine, Dr. Coopersmith led the critical care response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a local and national level. Under his guidance, the ECCC has remained a beacon of resilience and innovation, designing, testing, and implementing critical care strategies, all while providing expert and compassionate care to our patients.
Today, Emory Healthcare has 354 adult ICU beds. These are managed by a team of approximately 100 physicians and well over 200 APPs. While each ICU under the ECCC maintains its individual specialization, we are united by our common goal of providing the 'right care, right now.' As a testament to our commitment to integrated and consistent care, we employ standardized, evidence-based approaches to critical care empowered by data-driven audit and feedback across the system. This approach ensures that every patient receives consistent, high-quality care, no matter the location or situation.
The ECCC has been recognized for its dedication to clinical excellence, bolstered by a comprehensive, multiprofessional approach, as an integrated network spanning multiple hospitals. As the ECCC steps into its future, it continues to focus on its strategic objective of establishing itself as a global leader in academic critical care, guided by its mission, vision, and values in creating solutions for contemporary critical care challenges.
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