NEWS
Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital Opens State-of-the-Art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Expanding Access for New Jersey Children and Families
September 16, 2026
New Hersh Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Increases Critical Care Beds from 8 to 14
New Brunswick, N.J. – September 16, 2026 – With the opening of the newly constructed Hersh Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, families across New Jersey now have greater access to advanced pediatric critical care close to home. Made possible through the generosity of The Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation and a $10 million appropriation from the state of New Jersey, the expanded PICU provides a modern, family-centered environment designed to support the care of critically ill and injured children.
Located within Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital, the new PICU includes 14 private patient rooms, each designed with additional space to accommodate parents and caregivers who wish to remain at their child’s bedside throughout treatment and recovery. The expanded family areas reflect a growing understanding of the important role loved ones play in the healing process. For parents or guardians navigating a child’s stay in intensive care, having the opportunity to remain at the bedside allows them to stay connected to their child’s care and provide comfort throughout the recovery process.
“The new PICU was designed with both patients and families in mind,” said Siva Jonna, MD, pediatric intensivist, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and physician-in-chief of Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital. “By creating larger, more functional patient rooms that incorporate a comfortable space for family members compared to our original PICU, we can provide highly specialized critical care while supporting the emotional needs of children and their loved ones. This environment allows our team to deliver the highest level of pediatric intensive care in a setting that promotes comfort, collaboration, and healing.”
The PICU provides around-the-clock care for children with serious illnesses, traumatic injuries, respiratory failure, complex infections, neurological conditions, and those recovering from major surgery. The unit is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of pediatric intensivists, critical care nurses, respiratory therapists, and other specialists trained to care for critically ill children. Saint Peter’s PICU receives more than 500 pediatric patient transports annually from hospitals throughout New Jersey, making it one of the state's busiest pediatric referral centers.
“For families in New Jersey, the expanded PICU means access to sophisticated pediatric critical care services without the need to travel far from home,” said Pam Harmon, DNP, MSN, RNC-NIC, nursing director of the Women and Children’s Division at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. “When a child requires intensive care, proximity matters—not only for the patient—but also for parents, siblings, and extended family members who often spend days or weeks supporting their loved one during hospitalization.”
Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital is one of New Jersey’s state-designated acute care children’s hospitals and provides specialized pediatric services beyond neonatal intensive care that includes pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric surgery and pediatric cardiology. The rising incidence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and the COVID-19 epidemic demonstrated the need for increasing pediatric critical care services and the expanded PICU strengthens the hospital’s ability to meet the growing demand for pediatric intensive care services in the region.
The unit also builds upon a longstanding culture of clinical excellence. Saint Peter’s PICU continues to be recognized with a Silver Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), a national recognition that honors patient outcomes, nursing excellence, and a healthy work environment.
As critically ill children recover, many still require specialized monitoring before they are ready to transition to a general inpatient unit or return home. To meet that need, Saint Peter’s is transforming its former PICU space into a general pediatrics and step-down unit. The unit will care for children whose conditions have stabilized but who continue to require a higher level of observation and support. Pediatric patients recovering from major surgery, serious infections, respiratory illnesses, or traumatic injuries may spend time in this unit as part of their recovery.
“The opening of the Hersh Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is an important milestone for Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital and for the families we serve throughout New Jersey,” said Leslie D. Hirsch, FACHE, president and CEO of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System. “We are deeply grateful to The Dorothy B. Hersh Foundation, as well as the support of New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, and our legislative delegation of Assemblyman Kevin Egan, Assemblyman Joseph Danielsen and Senator Robert Smith. Their support has enabled us to provide advanced pediatric critical care in a modern environment that prioritizes both clinical excellence and family-centered care, ensuring children can receive the specialized treatment they need close to home.”
To learn more about Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital, visit saintpetershcs.com/childrenshospital.
###
About Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital
Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital is a state-designated acute care children’s hospital and Regional Perinatal Center sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen that provides families with access to a full range of pediatric specialties, including a nationally renowned Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Department, adolescent medicine, cancer care, diabetes, orthopedics, surgery, developmental pediatrics, gastroenterology, allergy and immunology, infectious disease medicine, cardiology, nephrology, neurology, pediatric intensive care, pulmonary/sleep medicine, audiology and physical therapy. Other programs and services include Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine, which counsels, tests and treats children with rare diseases; the Craniofacial and Neurosurgical Center, which offers corrective surgery and multidisciplinary support for children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities; the Dorothy B. Hersh Regional Child Protection Center, a state-designated regional Diagnostic and Treatment Center for child abuse prevention; and the Center for Diabetes Self-Management and Education, which diagnoses and treats children with diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
Saint Peter’s has received advanced certification in Perinatal Care and Level IV Maternal Levels of Care verification from the Joint Commission and the Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses for its Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care Units. Saint Peter’s University Hospital has been redesignated as a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center of the American Nurses Association, making Saint Peter’s one of only five hospitals worldwide at the time to receive this designation for seven consecutive terms, and for the first time, with Distinction®.
Visit saintpetershcs.com/childrenshospital or call 732.565.KIDS [5437].