Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine was established in 2001 and was the first comprehensive department of critical care medicine established among municipal hospitals in Hangzhou. As the backbone of the hospital’s emergency response for critically ill patients, the department undertakes the treatment of critically ill patients both inside and outside the hospital, and has also undertaken numerous designated medical rescue missions in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, and neighboring provinces. The department currently has approximately 60 established staff members, including 5 chief physicians (2 chief physicians of traditional Chinese medicine), 3 associate chief physicians, 2 attending physicians, 1 resident physician, and 3 associate chief nurses. Among them are 1 doctor and 8 master’s degree holders. The department has strong technical capabilities and a well-balanced staffing structure, and has a certain influence in the field of critical care medicine in Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou.

The department currently has 28 open beds. Its hardware facilities are advanced; the ward is equipped with an air laminar-flow purification system and several isolated single rooms. Beds are arranged according to standard bed-unit configurations, with electric air-cushion beds used in conjunction with ceiling-mounted pendant systems, separate wet and dry areas, and ventilators, monitors, and other related equipment mounted at each bedside. Each bed unit is equipped with an independent computer system for bedside medical orders and nursing records, as well as a mobile ward-round workstation. The ward environment and noise control comply with the relevant quality-control requirements of Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou.

The department routinely provides critical care life-support technologies, including invasive and noninvasive ventilatory support (including high-flow support), bedside continuous blood purification, bedside intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, bedside tracheotomy and tube placement, bedside fiberoptic bronchoscopy, pulse-indicator continuous cardiac output measurement (PiCCO), bedside critical care ultrasonography, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). It routinely provides analgesia and sedation, nutritional support, psychological intervention, rehabilitation therapy, and other treatments. Clinical work is patient-centered, with active efforts to improve the sleep quality of critically ill patients during treatment, reduce pain and adverse experiences, and build on the hospital’s特色 of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The department gives full play to the role of physicians of traditional Chinese medicine, applies classical theories of traditional Chinese medicine, and uses integrated Chinese and Western medical approaches to treat critically ill patients, resulting in significant improvements in patients’ care experience and the success rate of resuscitation.

The department director, Fang Kun, is a renowned traditional Chinese medicine physician in Hangzhou. He is Deputy Chairman of the Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Zhejiang Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, a Standing Committee Member of the Critical Illness Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association, a Standing Committee Member of the Critical Care Physicians Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association, Chairman of the Critical Care Medicine Professional Committee of the Hangzhou Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and Deputy Chairman of the Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Hangzhou Medical Association. Physicians and nurses in the department hold relevant concurrent positions in the corresponding professional associations, and the department has a certain influence in the field of critical care medicine in Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou. In recent years, the number of departmental research projects approved has continued to increase, covering projects related to the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, the Department of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission, the Zhejiang Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Hangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau. The department actively conducts research collaboration with provincial and municipal institutions and is currently participating in 1 research and development project under the “Pioneer and Leading Goose” program of the Department of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province. The number and quality of research papers published have increased year by year. In 2019, a case report was published in ICM, the highest-impact journal in the field of critical care medicine, with an impact factor of 18 points; more than 10 SCI-indexed papers have been published in the past 5 years.

The main conditions treated by the Department of Critical Care Medicine include: ① Cardiovascular diseases: patients with coronary heart disease and patients before or after surgery on the heart and great vessels, particularly those with low cardiac output syndrome or severe arrhythmias. ② Severe sepsis; severe pneumonia accompanied by respiratory failure; cardiopulmonary insufficiency or failure; renal failure; and failure of other organs. ③ Neurological and neurosurgical patients, such as those with coma, cerebral hemorrhage, or increased intracranial pressure. ④ Severe obstetric conditions, such as pregnant women with heart disease. ⑤ Severe trauma involving injury to vital cardiopulmonary organs. ⑥ Postoperative monitoring and management of surgical patients with organ dysfunction or potential life-threatening risks.

All physicians and nurses of the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine uphold the hospital motto, “Compassionate care, excellence in medicine, aspiration and dedicated practice.” With a patient-centered approach, superb medical expertise, and meticulous nursing care, they serve patients wholeheartedly and protect your life!