The general pediatric unit is the hospital's main unit where children from one week old to 15 years old receive general medical and nursing care. UC Davis Children's Hospital also has a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The UC Davis Children's Hospital has the region’s only PICU facility staffed by physicians who are also renowned researchers and educators. PICU staff members include authorities in brain injury, meningitis and environmental factors that influence the care of critically ill children. Their expertise is in medicine, but their passion is in healing. They are called upon to stabilize, treat and monitor the condition of young victims of life-threatening conditions as well as children recovering from complex surgical procedures, including heart surgery and transplants.

The PICU is a regional center that works cooperatively with numerous community hospitals by means of a critical care consultation line that connects UC Davis physicians to rural communities throughout the Sacramento Valley.

UC Davis Children's Hospital critical care medical professionals are frequently consulted by news reporters who are investigating infectious disease outbreaks, drownings, trauma resulting from highway, boating and aviation mishaps, and other related topics. Data from the nationwide Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) survey has shown that the UC Davis Children's Hospital PICU ranks among the nation’s top 10 percent of pediatric intensive care units.

The UC Davis Children's Hospital’s Intensive Care Nursery is designated as a regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit providing urgent, specialized care for newborn infants. The physicians and specialists in our Level III Intensive Care Nursery are experienced in effective care and treatment for infants born prematurely — before completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy — and newborns with high-risk medical conditions.