"LFHC's Intensive Care Unit is Providing Care on a Par With That in the United States" - Dr. Robert Winokur, LFHC Hospital Director

When Lao Friends Hospital for Children opened the Edward Stone High-Acuity Unit in 2021, it was a groundbreaking moment for pediatric healthcare in Laos. The HAU became the first unit of its kind to provide free high-acuity (intensive) care in northern Laos.

Recently, LFHC welcomed a new hospital director, Dr. Robert Winokur, who himself has over 30 years of experience as an ER physician. He was so impressed by the standard and quality of care provided, which he described as "being on a par with intensive care provided in the US," that he decided the unit should receive a new name to represent this level of care better. The Edward Stone Intensive Care Unit.

When the unit first opened, it took the LFHC team time to train on the complex machinery and processes involved in providing care in an intensive care unit. However, following two and a half years of training, practice, and support from various ex-pat volunteers, it was decided that the unit is now operating as an Intensive Care Unit.

This was illustrated in April when the ICU provided care to a child with diabetes-related ketoacidosis (DKU). This is a life-threatening condition, and this ten-year-old girl had a very low chance of survival. However, after a week of treatment and against all odds, she survived. This was down to close monitoring, around-the-clock care, medication management, and the use of high flow oxygen which can only be provided in the ICU. LFHC's ICU also has pediatric ventilators and C-PAP machines. This is one of countless examples of children who have been saved.

The team at LFHC has done an incredible job in bringing the ICU up to such a high standard of care. This unit has saved countless lives of children who would have died before opening in 2021.　

We want to extend our continued thanks to the Stone Foundation for its continued support of Lao Friends Hospital for Children."