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Approximately one third of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at relatively low risk for poor outcomes but still require some level of intense monitoring, and some general ward patients have higher acuity needs without strictly meeting ICU admission criteria. The intermediate care unit (ImCU) can be used as both a step-up unit for floor patients and a step-down unit for ICU patients and, thus, can provide a higher level of staffing and continuous monitoring without monopolizing scarce ICU resources. In this retrospective observational study, researchers examined the effect on mortality of an ImCU led by hospital medicine attendings at a university teaching institution in Spain. Admission and discharge criteria for the ImCU were based on…