PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Portland hospital is less than two months away from shuttering its intensive care facility for children.
Providence Health & Services has announced that St. Vincent Medical Center’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit will permanently cease operations during the first week of November. The closure will impact 20 registered nurses and three private-practice doctors.
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According to the health care system, the decision to shut down the facility follows “persistent challenges” at the hospital. The company reported that the PICU was empty for 155 days throughout 2024 and, when the four-bed unit wasn’t empty, caregivers often treated just one patient.
Providence noted that several of St. Vincent’s remaining facilities — including an inpatient pediatric unit, neonatal intensive care unit, Gerry Frank Center and Children’s Emergency Room — will continue serving children. The health care system went on to reveal that the impacted PICU staff could accept other roles within the company…