This website provides information for healthcare professionals about the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Wellington Regional Hospital. We provide tertiary intensive care for patients across the lower North and Upper South islands.
We are one of New Zealand's largest ICUs, admitting over 2000 patients every year into our 24 bed facility. In early 2025 we will expand into a newly built 12-bed HDU, taking our total capacity to 36 Critical Care beds.
We provide Intensive & High Dependency Care for a wide range of patients with surgical & medical conditions. These include cardiothoracic, neuro, general, upper gastrointestinal, ear nose & throat, and vascular surgery patients. We are also a major regional trauma unit. Medical care is provided to general medical, respiratory, haematology, oncology, neurology, toxicology & renal patients.
We look after most children (around 200 per year) but refer the very young or very sick on to Starship Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand's quaternary paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
We don't look after patients with burns, or spinal injuries but are involved in transferring them to the national specialist centres that do.