Our History
History of the Section
The Baylor College of Medicine's Pediatric Critical Care Section, created in 1978, was one of only five pediatric critical care sections in the country at that time. Dr. Thomas Vargo was appointed as the first chief of the section. Dr. Larry Jefferson, was Dr. Vargo's third fellow and became the second chief of section in 1982 after completing both his pediatric pulmonary and critical care fellowship training programs at BCM. As the fledgling field of pediatric critical care medicine grew over the next two decades, so did the College's pediatric critical care section. The section now includes 19 full-time physician faculty members. The section has also added a rapidly expanding nurse practitioner and physician assistant group. Dr Jefferson stepped down this summer after leading the section for 25 years. Dr. Graf is currently the interim section chief, while a national search is ongoing.
History of Fellowship Training
One of the section's earliest commitments was the training of critical care fellows. The fellowship training program's mission has been and remains the training of academic leaders in the field of pediatric critical care medicine. Since the early 1980s, the section has had more than 50 successful graduates from the training program. More than 85 percent of our graduates continue to practice critical care medicine. Many early graduates are now leaders in the field serving as directors of PICUs and department chairs. Some more recent graduates are working in international PICUs and have been instrumental in designing new PICUs in their home countries.
History of the PICU
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit has existed at Texas Children's Hospital since the mid-1970s. The earliest PICU was staffed by a variety of physicians, first under the direction of Dr. Charles Mullins, then Dr. Thomas Vargo, both pediatric cardiologists. The current 31-bed PICU was designed by current section members and was relocated to Texas Children's West Tower in September 1991. With over 2000 admissions per year, this unit cares for all types of medical, surgical, and transplant patients.
History of the PCU
As pediatric critical care grew at Texas Children's, it was increasingly recognized that children often needed varying levels of care and monitoring. A four-bed intermediate care unit was developed in 1982 under the direction of Larry Jefferson, M.D. In 1987, Fernando Stein, M.D. assumed leadership of this unit and was instrumental in developing this unit's expertise to serve as an "in-hospital home" for the community’s population of technology-dependent children. When this unit expanded in 1992, it was renamed the Progressive Care Unit to reflect it's goal that children's care progressed toward discharge home. The PCU grew to its current 36-bed size with over 1600 admissions per year when it relocated again to the West Tower of Texas Children's. The PCU serves as a national model for the progressive and transitional care of children. The PCU currently provides a monitored care environment for a diverse population of special needs patients including children who are dependent on medical technologies, those undergoing rehabilitation after a critical illness or injury, or acutely ill patients whose medical needs may exceed the capabilities of an acute care inpatient unit.
Development of Pediatric Transport
Texas Children's began its pediatric transport program in 1986. Under the direction of Dr. Jeanine Graf, it is now one of the busiest transport systems in the country, with more than 650 transports annually. Re-designed in 2000 to include long distance transports via fixed-wing aircraft, the Texas Children's Kangaroo Crew now transports children from domestic locations as far away as Boston and California and international locations such as Guatemala and Mexico.
