UNM Critical Care Tower

UNM Hospital’s adult critical care tower (CCT) spans 684,000 square feet and includes 192 beds, 96 of which are dedicated to ICU needs. The facility has been built to address longstanding overcrowding at UNMH by adding intensive care capacity, new operating rooms, and a new emergency department. The building’s modern facilities include:

Expanded Emergency Department

  • The adult emergency department increases ED space by 27,026 sq. ft.
  • The CCT will consolidate all adult critical care services in one building, allowing patients to receive life-saving services more efficiently
  • The new helipad and expanded ambulance bay have direct access to the expanded ED

Integrated Intensive Care Units

The new adult ICUs on levels 5 and 6 will have 96 beds to care for patients with neurological, cardiothoracic, trauma, and acute medical conditions.

Modern Interventional Platform

The interventional platform on level 3 will contain:

  • A new surgical suite with 18 operating rooms (ORs)
  • 73 post-anesthesia care rooms (PACUs)
  • Six interventional radiology suites
  • Four catheterization labs

Strategic Radiology Services

In addition to its presence on the interventional platform, radiology services will be placed in strategic areas throughout the CCT. The total number of CT (computed tomography) scanners and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners double from five to 10 and two to four, respectively.

Hands on Learning

As New Mexico’s only academic medical center, UNM Hospital’s Critical Care Tower was designed to give medical students, residents, fellows and other healthcare learners hands-on experience in a modern, highly collaborative environment.


Key learning features include:

  • A dedicated Sky Campus: The fourth floor includes study areas, training rooms, technology-equipped conference rooms and flexible educational spaces for lectures, case reviews and team-based learning.
  • Private on-call rooms: Twenty-two rooms allow resident physicians to rest between shifts, supporting learner wellness and reducing burnout.
  • A simulation laboratory: An advanced simulation manikin allows students, residents and nurses to practice emergency scenarios, procedures and team communication in a controlled environment.
  • Dedicated teaching areas: The Emergency Department includes a separate physician teaching station, along with collaborative workstations that make bedside instruction and consultation easier.
  • Technology-enabled operating rooms: The tower’s 18 operating rooms are designed to support educational and consultative participation during procedures.
  • Exposure to advanced clinical environments: Learners train alongside multidisciplinary teams in a 68-room adult Emergency Department, four specialized ICUs totaling 96 beds, four cardiac catheterization labs and six interventional radiology suites.
  • Integrated technology: Imaging, bedside monitors, operating-room equipment and electronic medical records communicate across the facility, allowing learners to train with the systems shaping modern healthcare.
  • Research opportunities: A dedicated research office within the Emergency Department supports the connection between clinical care, investigation and the development of new treatments.
  • Team-based learning: The tower’s layout brings emergency, imaging, surgical, interventional and intensive care services together, helping residents learn how patients move through the full continuum of critical care.
The tower offers learners more than a place to observe care—it provides space to practice, collaborate, conduct research and care for some of the region’s most complex patients using advanced technology.

UNM Hospital Floor Maps

The Critical Care Tower is a part of UNM Hospital and is located at 2211 Lomas Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106. Call 505-272-8481 to schedule an appointment.

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