PORTSMOUTH, NH (March 24, 2022) — Portsmouth Regional Hospital (PRH) this week will open its expanded Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a new Cardiac Surgical Stepdown Unit, enhancing patient care, and providing a better patient experience and more resources to care for the critical health needs of the New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts Seacoast regions.

The ICU expansion will include six additional beds, bringing the unit’s total to 23. The Portsmouth Regional Hospital ICU is a vital service for the region and the units’ care teams specialize in open heart surgery, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), comprehensive stroke, inclusive of clot retrieval and aneurysm coiling, neurosurgery, and trauma. PRH is the only hospital in the Greater Seacoast Region to offer all of these comprehensive service lines.

The new 15-bed Cardiac Surgical Stepdown Unit will focus on treating patients recovering from open heart surgery, as well as other complicated cardiac procedures. The new unit features fully equipped rooms with bedside equipment and state-of-the-art technology to ensure continual monitoring of these cardiac patients and enhanced services for patients and their families.

“We are continually investing in our hospital and our community to ensure patients throughout Portsmouth and the Greater Seacoast Region receive world-class care close to home,” said PRH chief executive officer Dean M. Carucci. “Portsmouth Regional Hospital believes strongly that the community should never have to leave the state or region for their care, and these capital investments and program developments are one facet in accomplishing this mission and vision. These programs and investments make working at Portsmouth an exciting place for healthcare professionals to grow their career and be in a place of continual learning.”