Four years ago, the world at large became more familiar with the field of health care known as “critical care” when the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented numbers of patients being admitted to hospital intensive care units.

Ashley Montgomery-Yates, MD, a critical care physician and senior vice chair of strategy for the University of Kentucky Department of Internal Medicine, was one of the many health care providers on the front lines of the pandemic.

On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Dr. Montgomery-Yates discusses what it means to go into the field of critical care, what life was like for the ICU teams during the pandemic, and how staff experiences helped shape the design of UK Chandler Hospital’s recently opened 12th floor – the new home of its medical and cardiovascular ICUs.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

Transcripts for this or other episodes of Behind the Blue can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.