The Society of Critical Care Medicine has moved its offices from Anaheim, California to Des Plaines, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The move was intended to locate it near the nation's major medical associations. The opportunity to collaborate locally with the American Medical Association, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Emergency Nurses Association and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses provides the Society influence to promote the advancement of a multidisciplinary, multi-professional intensive care team.

With the cost-savings the relocation to the Chicagoland area provided, the Society is enhancing its member services and increase its support for professional activities.

David Julian Martin, CAE, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice President of SCCM said this move was exactly what this society needed to service the members and general public with better care. "With the many, rapid changes occurring in healthcare today, it became increasingly clear that we would need to make the organization more visible, readily accessible and externally focused in order to secure the highest quality care for all critically ill patients," Martin said.

Ann Thompson, MD, FCCM, President of SCCM, believes that the move was very beneficial to the organization. "The Society is the only association that focuses all their attention on critical care and patient safety," said Thompson. "We needed to be more centrally located for all our members and other medical associations in order to serve them better."

The Society of Critical Care Medicine has more than 9,500 members worldwide. It is the only professional organization devoted exclusively to the advancement of multidisciplinary, multi-professional intensive care through excellence in patient care, professional education, public education, research, and advocacy. Members of the Society include intensivists, critical care nurses, critical care pharmacists, clinical pharmocologists, respiratory therapists and other professionals, which may include technicians, social workers, dieticians and members of the clergy.