Officially opened on 18 January 1969, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (University Hospital, UH, then) was the first ICU in Malaysia. Its pioneering team of specialists – A. Ganendran, A.E. Delilkan, A.I Gurubatham and Ratnavel – committed themselves to UH’s aspiration of bringing the best available resources of modern medical science to patients. Their successful running of the six-bedded ICU was a milestone for the young country and set the momentum for ICU establishment in other hospitals nationwide.
Over the decades, the ICU bed numbers increased, and it relocated from the original Fourth Floor of Menara Utama site to several different locations in the hospital before finally establishing itself on the Second Floor of Menara Utama in 2017. Alongside its growth as an adult General ICU was the development of other specialized critical care units, namely Paediatrics ICU, Neonatal ICU, Coronary Care Unit, Cardiothoracic ICU and Neurosurgical ICU. The establishment of these units reflected the evolving UMMC healthcare services and the growing need for specialized care.
In September 2018, the amalgamation of all critical care services in UMMC was formalized by the formation of a Critical Care Services Unit (CCSU). This new integration aims to maximize Critical Care resources and ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care, in line with the following guiding principles of UMMC: