Israel journal of medical sciences
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Since the limited accessibility of general intensive care units creates a situation in which medical patients in critical condition continue to be cared for in the regular wards, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess the treatment outcomes in such patients referred to the medical intermediate care unit (MICU). At the Soroka Medical Center, a facility with 810 beds, of which 170 beds are in medical wards, including an 8-bed intensive cardiac care unit and a 5-bed general intensive care unit, 119 patients were referred to the MICU, directly from the emergency room or from medical wards, during the first half of 1994. Eighty percent of the patients were admitted to the MICU directly from the emergency room. ⋯ The ratio of nursing staff to patient in the MICU was approximately 1:3, compared to 2:3 in the general intensive care unit and 1:12 in the wards. The mean cost of one day of hospitalization in the MICU was one-third that in the general intensive care unit and double the cost in a ward. Medical patients in critical condition can be treated in an MICU, with a savings in expenses and without impairing the patient's chances for survival.