Critical Care Experience

During my career as a pulmonologist and critical care physician, I played a key role in modernizing intensive care delivery by helping transform traditional ICU practices into a high-performance, evidence-based care model. I led a comprehensive ICU quality improvement initiative focused on addressing safety and performance gaps using Leapfrog benchmarks, collaborating closely with hospital leadership and multidisciplinary clinical teams. These efforts resulted in significant reductions in ventilator-associated pneumonia, ICU length of stay, catheter-associated infections, and mortality related to severe sepsis and septic shock. The care model developed through this work has sustained  and contributed to multiple national hospital quality awards.  

Critical care medicine encompasses the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of clinical problems representing the extreme of human disease. The most critically ill or injured patients require intensive care by a coordinated team. Dr. Salcedo is a critical care specialist and has served as both an intensivist and a consultant to patients in the intensive care unit.

He is experienced not only in a broad range of medical conditions common among critically ill patients but also with technological procedures and devices used in intensive care settings. 

Dr. Salcedo was instrumental in transforming the delivery of care to intensive care patients  within the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.  He recognized the need for physician leadership to drive improvements in the ICU.  Working with hospital administration, fellow critical care physicians and nurses, metrics were developed to meet and exceed national benchmark quality standards. He facilitated a framework  to deliver best practice initiatives. 

During the first year of implementation, results demonstrated statistically significant reductions in ventilator-associated pneumonia, ICU length of stay, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and severe sepsis/septic shock mortality. The model established over 15 years ago is still in place and has contributed the hospital being awarded numerous national awards. 

Taking care of the sickest of the sickest critically ill patients raises many complicated ethical and social issues.  Dr. Salcedo compassionately discusses areas such as end-of-life decisions, advance directives, estimating prognosis, and counseling to patients and their families. 

The following links provide valuable information on advanced care planning.   

Advanced care directive information in English:

 https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning-healthcare-directives 

Advanced care directive information in Spanish:

 https://www.cancer.gov/espanol/cancer/manejo-del-cancer/instrucciones-adelantadas