Cardiovascular Intensive Care

Your child will recover from heart surgery, heart transplantation, and other heart procedures or events in our Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU). Our expert team and state-of-the-art unit provide comfort and care for children of all ages with a wide variety of heart conditions, including those with highly complex needs. While your child will be with us, we will ensure that they receive the most advanced around-the-clock critical care, with access to the very latest life-sustaining technology.

Your child’s comprehensive intensive care team includes dedicated nurses and physicians, so your child is always greeted by familiar faces. You’ll also find education and support for your family, along with private, quiet patient rooms; sleeping accommodations; and a kitchen to help make being at your child’s side easier. There are many supportive services and resources available to you before and during your stay in our CVICU.

Why Stanford Medicine Children’s Health for your child's cardiovascular intensive care

Deep expertise in caring for children with complex heart conditions. Our experienced pediatric heart surgeons and cardiologists are relied upon to treat the most difficult cases from across the nation, and our dedicated CVICU is one of the largest in the nation, caring for more than 700 postsurgical patients per year. Additionally, our Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center is the largest pediatric heart transplantation program on the West Coast and has a robust and innovative ventricular assist device (VAD) that enables children to leave the hospital and live a quality life while waiting for heart transplant.
Impressive outcomes. Despite caring for the sickest children and babies, and offering complex, leading-edge procedures, we often have better outcomes with shorter hospital stays than other children’s hospitals across the nation. Our outcomes rank us among the top institutions in the country.
Comprehensive care provided by a large team of pediatric heart specialists and subspecialists. As part of the Moore Children’s Heart Center, we have access to all forms of pediatric cardiac subspecialists, with experts in cardiac catheterization, cardiac imaging, electrophysiology, fetal cardiology, adult congenital heart disease, pulmonary vascular disease, and heart failure. Additionally, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford offers a wide range of subspecialty services for children and families like yours, including social services, child life experts, cardiac psychologists, nutrition experts, and more, ensuring optimal care for the whole patient and family. Through the Thrive Program, your child and family can receive emotional/social support and mental health care.
Innovative, research-driven care. At the heart of Stanford University and the Bay Area is a focus on finding novel approaches to problems. By participating in local and national trials and conducting cutting-edge research at Stanford University, we transform research into life-changing care and give your child the best chance at a quality life. It is our passion to find hope for children who are otherwise left without options.