Neurocritical Patient Care

Our mission is to deliver the highest standard of care to critically ill patients with neurological injuries. Using a multidisciplinary team approach, we care for patients and families impacted by the most serious and life-threatening neurological injuries. Each patient is cared for by a team of board certified neurointensive care physicians and fellows, neurology and emergency medicine residents, ICU pharmacists, advanced practice providers, physical and occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, social workers, and registered nurses.

Our highly specialized 20 bed neuro spine ICU provides care for patients with a wide variety of neurological and neurosurgical emergencies. In the past year, we have taken care of over 1000unique cases in our ICU. As a tertiary care center, we encounter some of the most complex casesand bring in patients from all over the Chicagoland area and beyond. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked number 6 in the nation for clinical performance in Neurology and Neurosurgery. Our team has extensive expertise in comprehensive stroke care, epilepsy, neuro oncology, neuroimmunology and neuroinfectious diseases, among others. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve patient outcomes, our faculty members are active participants in several clinical trials, helping lead the way in the development of cutting-edge diagnostics and therapeutics.

We frequently collaborate with colleagues from the Department of Neurological Surgery (Home: Department of Neurological Surgery: Feinberg School of Medicine), and Divisions of Vascular Neurology (Stroke & Vascular Neurology: The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology: Feinberg School of Medicine), Neuro Oncology (Neuro-Oncology: The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology: Feinberg School of Medicine), and Epilepsy (Neurophysiology & Epilepsy: The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology: Feinberg School of Medicine), amongst others. Through these collaborations, we offer intracranial pressure and brain oxygenation monitoring, 24-hour video electroencephalography, electromyography, and nerve conduction studies to aid in the diagnosis and recovery of our patients. Additionally, we have a very close collaboration with the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, and those of our patients who need acute inpatient rehabilitation are evaluated by doctors from the number 1 ranked rehabilitation hospital in the country.