The pandemic highlighted the challenges and the need to strengthen critical care services in our country. It has also evolved the role of critical care specialists in tackling healthcare emergencies of such scale.  With an aim to provide world-class critical care facility, SL Raheja Hospital Mahim launched a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit – the Dr BS Raheja Critical Care Unit. The 11+ 2 bedded unit is enabled with modern machinery, astute architecture, and well-trained medical & nursing teams to ensure quality care.

Patients dealing with critical illness require intensive care for various medical conditions. These conditions though life-threatening, can be controlled with appropriate medical intervention. The patients in ICU need continuous monitoring, thus the unit is equipped with a central nursing station designed in a such a way that each and every patient and monitor is visible and thus continuously watched and  monitored. This will benefit the doctors and medical professionals that are looking after the patients 24×7. Another crucial highlight of the ICU is the Mobile Caregiver System, which will provide remote access for clinicians on the go. This will allow them to retrieve and monitor the data (from patient’s monitors) from remote locations inside or outside the hospital, thereby simplifying and improving the decision-making procedure. Both these features ensure extensive support and monitoring to the patient and makes the unit one of the safest units in the country. This unit also comprises of two very sought-after negative pressure cubicles.

Dr Sanjith Saseedharan, Head-Critical Care, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, who helms this unit, said, ‘’Critical care units play an important role when dealing with rapidly deteriorating patients; the importance of a well-equipped ICU became eminent during the COVID19 pandemic. The pandemic also highlighted that critical care services, which were the core to treating patients with severe COVID19, needed an upgrade – both in terms of technology & infrastructure. With the launch of our new ICU, we will be able to offer critical care services backed by latest technology, trained manpower and infrastructure. We at SL Raheja Hospital are extremely proud to give Mumbai the best-in-class critical care unit that has patient centricity at its core”.

With a significant focus on natural daylight as a key architectural factor, large-sized windows have been installed, which would therapeutically help in the faster recovery of patients. This will also help them deal with disrupted circadian rhythms that are associated with poor outcomes, including Delirium. Apart from its role in providing comfort heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), HVAC plays a pivotal role to control the infection rate in such an atmosphere. The HVAC system installed in this unit is more than optimal, ensuring a very high number of air changes that will make the air very safe and germ-free. Hence, the system has been designed and curated specifically to ensure a safe environment for patients and visitors.

The ICU also has been efficiently divided into two mirror-image units; one of these areas will be used as a dedicated area to tackle airborne illnesses. The intensive care unit is equipped with ventilators which have FRC monitoring, metabolic monitoring and Transpulmonary Pressure monitoring which bring objectivity in mechanical ventilation making it safe.

This unit is also the only unit in Mumbai that uses the Inutrimon software, indirect calorimetry, and a dedicated Laminar Air Flow cabinet for the preparation of feeds to make nutrition in the ICU objective, safe, scientific, and quick. Additionally, a dedicated counseling room has been designed so that relatives of the patient can be counselled regarding the status of their loved ones in the critical care unit. Importantly, the entire unit is face recognition enabled, to reduce the movement of people.

Speaking during the inauguration, Dr Kunal Punamiya, CEO, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim-A Fortis Associate, said, “Our new future-ready ICU is set on the foundation of cutting-edge technology, patient centricity, and quality care. We are proud to be able to bring to Mumbai a setup of this stature, that harnesses technology to bring the best to its patients, making this unit arguably the best that the city can offer”.

Building on the learnings from the COVID19 pandemic, the ICU is modified and equipped to deal with all kinds of criticalities and provide patients with not only timely intervention but quality care too–