Neuroscience Critical Care

The Neurosciences ICU is the cornerstone of a well-integrated and cohesive Neurosciences Critical Care program for the treatment of critically ill patients with neurological disease. The OHSU Brain Institute is one of the highest-volume centers in the country for the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage, ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

Transfer a patient

For emergency transfers or consults call 503 494-7000.

OHSU Brain Institute has the first neuroscience critical care unit in Oregon with full-time (24/7) neurointerventional coverage. Our NICU also has full-time (24/7) capability for neuromonitoring.

Specialty trained in neuroscience care

Our program also has exceptional critical care nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners with training and expertise in neurocritical care and faculty appointments in the Department of Anesthesiology. We also have support from pharmacists, physical therapists, social workers, case managers, and the OHSU palliative care team. Read more

We are the first neuroscience ICU in Oregon to offer:

24 hours/7 days-a-week coverage by nationally recognized neuroscience specialists:

Intensivists from Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Neurology specialized in neurocritical care
Cerebrovascular neurosurgeons and interventional neuroradiologists
Functional neurosurgeons
Stroke/vascular neurologists
Neurology hospitalist program and specialized neurology consult services (including epilepsy, neuromuscular disease, and neuroimmunology)
Neuro-oncologists

24 hours/7 days-a-week capability for advanced neuromonitoring, including:

Long-term video-EEG

to discover where in the brain seizures begin
to distinguish epileptic seizures from psychogenic non-epileptic seizures
to evaluate who is a candidate for surgery to treat epilepsy

Intracranial pressure monitoring

to measure pressure inside the skull and thus in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid

Brain tissue oxygen

to measure brain oxygen levels and assess oxygen delivery and demand