From the Spring 2010 StayHealthy publication 
While no one plans for life threatening events, some 90,000 Americans are admitted to intensive care units (ICU) every day. When someone is in an ICU, it means they are critically ill and require the type of around-the-clock, specialized, life-saving care only available in this type of setting.
The good news is: If you or someone you know needs the services of a top rated ICU, it is right here at Porter. “I had my mother transferred here from another hospital,” shared Clinical Nurse Specialist in critical care Bonnie Turman, MS, RN. “Porter rates higher than the national averages on best practices and evidence-based protocols, and I knew my mother would get truly extraordinary care here.”
Critical care director, Terrie Fontenot, BSN, RN, CCRN, echoed Turman’s beliefs. “Some people think they will get better care in Chicago or Indianapolis, but that’s just not true. Porter ranks right up there with the best,” she said. “The work we perform in our ICU is so impressive that our outcomes were recently published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety – a global, peer-reviewed forum for practical approaches to improving quality and safety in health care.”
National statistics show that patients in the ICU are five to ten times more likely to have hospital-acquired illnesses than other hospitalized patients. They are at high risk for complications such as catheter-related blood stream infections, catheter-related urinary infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Fontenot and Turman explained that Porter’s ICU has established best practices and constantly monitors its protocols to improve the care for Porter’s most sick and most vulnerable patients.
Why You Can Trust Porter's ICU 
Excellent Outcomes
The number of hospital-associated illnesses consistently ranks below the national average.
Reduced Length of Stay
Improved treatment protocols have kept the average length of stay below the national average.
Expert Team
Core team includes 3 intensive care physicians, the ICU leadership team, an infection control analyst, 2 pharmacists, and the director of respiratory care.
Ongoing Review of Best Practices
ICU team attends mandatory meetings to review best practices and implement changes as needed.
Continuing Research
ICU team is regularly involved in national research projects to better the delivery of critical care medicine.
Data collected by National Healthcare Safety Network shows that the clinical excellence in Porter’s ICU parallels that of much larger institutions. In fact, Porter’s ICU team has worked with ICU teams from nationally recognized and prestigious hospitals such as Johns Hopkins, Henry Ford and Hartford in developing a large-scale collaborative to reduce hospital-acquired illnesses.