About the Neurocritical Care Program
The Neurocritical Care Program at UC San Diego was founded in 2011, establishing UC San Diego as the only health system in the region to have dedicated, subspecialized neuro-ICU teams run by board-certified neurointenstivists caring 24/7 for our patients with critical brain and spinal cord injuries.
Our Team
Care and treatments we offer
At Jacobs Medical Center and Hillcrest Medical Center, our multidisciplinary neuro-ICU teams collaborate closely with our stroke and neurosurgery teams to care for patients with life-threatening neurological and neurosurgical injuries such as:
- stroke
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- intracerebral hemorrhage
- seizures
- brain tumors
- traumatic brain injury
- neuromuscular illnesses
We also care for patients after complex neurosurgical procedures. We offer treatments such as minimally invasive surgical evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhages, brain oxygenation monitoring, and continuous EEG monitoring.
Progress we've made
After the Neurocritical Care Program opened in 2011, the NCC program helped UC San Diego achieve Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, one of the first 5 hospitals in the country to do so.
Since 2011, our team has expanded to include 6 board-certified neurointensivists, 7 neurocritical care nurse practitioners, 3 neurocritical care fellows, and residents from multiple disciplines — together we provide 24/7 dedicated, in-house neurocritical care coverage at both UC San Diego’s La Jolla and Hillcrest hospitals.
We have achieved Comprehensive Stroke Center certification at both hospitals, and offer a UCNS-accredited neurocritical care fellowship accepting 1-2 fellows per year. And in 2016, we opened our new Neuro-ICU at Jacobs Medical Center, which allows us to care for our patients in a beautiful new environment.
Our team participates in national and regional research trials and is part of the NIH-funded Strategies to Innovate Emergency Care Clinical Trials Network (SIREN).
Our Research Interests
- cerebral blood flow
- delirium
- the effect of sleep on neurological injuries
- neurocritical care quality measures and quality improvement
- neurocritical care monitoring techniques
- post cardiac arrest syndrome
- post intensive care syndrome (PICS)
Program Contact
To learn more about our neurocritical care program, contact medical director Dr. Navaz Karanjia at nkaranjia@health.ucsd.edu.