Beyond Survival

Many consider a patient’s discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) the end of a difficult chapter. But for many survivors of critical illness, recovery is only beginning.

Each year, approximately 25,000 patients receive treatment in Houston Methodist intensive and intermediate care units. While advances in critical care are helping more patients survive, many continue to face physical, emotional and cognitive challenges long after they return home. For more than two decades, Dr. Faisal N. Masud, the Mary A. and M. Samuel Daffin, Sr. Centennial Chair in Anesthesia and Critical Care, observed this reality firsthand. Patients who overcame life-threatening illnesses frequently struggled to regain their health, while family members were left coping with complex, often overwhelming recovery processes.

“Healing goes beyond simple survival,” says Dr. Masud. “We need to preserve our patients’ quality of life and emotional health, not just for them, but for their families as well.”

In 2023, his vision led to the creation of the Houston Methodist Critical Care Recovery Clinic. Led by Medical Director Dr. Daniela M. Moran and Clinical Nurse Practitioner Sharon Y. Vu, the clinic brings together a multidisciplinary team of clinicians dedicated to helping patients and their loved ones navigate life after critical illness. Through individualized support, including physical and cognitive assessments as well as referrals to rehabilitation and behavioral health services, the clinic serves as a crucial component of the patient’s recovery journey.

“Many families have limited resources,” says Dr. Moran, recalling an interaction with a woman who arrived at the clinic carrying a notepad filled with questions after her husband spent months in the ICU. “Our team helped schedule appointments, connect the family with specialists and create a long-term plan. For her, that meant everything.”

Among the clinic’s earliest champions were Mark and Linda Quick, who formed a strong relationship with Dr. Masud after an initial meeting in 2021. Having recently lost Mark’s father after a lengthy ICU stay, they were drawn to Dr. Masud’s vision for a clinic that would take a comprehensive approach to coordinating follow-up care and support services.

“When you live in and then leave an ICU, it’s not the visible wounds that are the most long-lasting and difficult to manage — it’s the invisible ones,” says Linda.

Mark was particularly impressed by the clinic’s ability to link patients with the tools they need after leaving the hospital.

“It acts almost like a command center,” he says. “Whatever a patient needs, the clinic sets it up so that they don’t have to travel from place to place to get it.”

The Quicks’ belief in the clinic’s mission ultimately inspired a planned gift to the Critical Care Recovery Clinic Fund. Made in honor of their daughter, Erin Carlyle, and son-in-law, Jeff Carlyle, the gift reflects a family tradition rooted in service and a desire to advance meaningful causes in medicine. As the clinic continues to grow, the Quicks hope their support will ensure more patients and families receive the guidance, compassion and coordinated care they need to reclaim their quality of life and begin a new chapter of healing.