2026 Critical Care Congress

The 2026 Critical Care Congress will be held Sunday, March 22, through Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at McCormick Place® West Building in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
 
Pre-Congress educational programming will be held Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, 2026.

Yes, registrants can earn accredited continuing education (ACE) credit and maintenance of certification (MOC) points. More information will be provided after the program is finalized.

Congress Digital offers recorded sessions from the Critical Care Congress.
 
Congress Digital is available online 30 days after the in-person event and is accessed on LearnICU, an easy-to-use online platform. It offers accredited continuing education (ACE) credit and maintenance of certification (MOC) points.
 
Congress Digital is included with in-person registration and is also sold separately for those who do not attend Congress in person. It is another way SCCM ensures accessibility to the education provided at Congress.
 
Learn more at sccm.org/congressdigital.

SCCM has many different exhibition, sponsorship, and advertising opportunities available at the 2026 Critical Care Congress. Information can be found here.

A list of confirmed Congress dates and locations is available at sccm.org/futurecongress.

Dates for the Critical Care Congress will be changing from January or February to March or April starting in 2026. The change in dates will allow the Society to consider additional Congress locations. Congress has been held in January or February for many years, but it was initially held in May.
 
This change is being made for three primary reasons:

1. Congress participation has increased, and only a limited number of cities are suitable for a conference the size of Congress in January or February. Moving to March or April increases the pool of cities that can accommodate a conference the size of Congress.
2. Rotating through a greater number of cities will provide increased access and more selection for SCCM members and clinicians. Because most SCCM members are in high-population centers clustered around the U.S. Great Lakes and the U.S. East Coast, Congress will be held in those areas some years, which was not possible without a change in dates to March or April.
3. The new dates move Congress away from winter months, when ICUs typically see surges of influenza, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases. These surges further stress workforce issues that restrict clinicians’ ability to attend Congress.

 
A list of confirmed Congress dates and location is available at sccm.org/futurecongress.

SCCM’s priority is making Congress as accessible as possible to as many participants as possible. Congress has many complex needs, and SCCM is dedicated to evaluating all suitable opportunities throughout the United States while working to contract Congress locations five to eight years in advance.

Many factors are considered in Congress site selection. These include a city’s accessibility to major transportation centers, whether it has sufficient accommodations for SCCM’s growing number of attendees, and its geographic location near major segments of the SCCM membership.
 
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, SCCM is prohibited from political advocacy or lobbying activities. However, the SCCM Council and staff leadership carefully consider social and policy issues to ensure the safety and accommodation of Congress attendees in host cities.
 
Large-scale event planning requires that locations be selected and legally binding contracts in place years in advance, making it difficult to anticipate or respond to developments in various U.S. cities and states.
 
SCCM’s top priority is making Congress as accessible, collegial, and enjoyable as possible. SCCM understands that not everyone is able or willing to attend an in-person Congress each year. Regardless of location, the Society will continue to deliver the highest-quality educational programs both in person and online in service of its mission to secure the highest-quality care for all critically ill and injured patients.

SCCM is committed to engaging with Congress host city officials, local healthcare professionals, and community members to share best practices and foster collaboration to improve health outcomes for all individuals, regardless of their background or identity, by:

• Working with destination management organizations, hotel representatives, and local chambers of commerce to identify minority businesses that SCCM can collaborate with and support during Congress
• Planning local community projects that raise awareness of specific issues that align with SCCM’s mission and support minority communities within the host city/state
• Providing badge ribbons so attendees can show support for minority communities
• Highlighting the great diversity of participants in the scientific program, SCCM leadership, and the broader SCCM volunteer community and membership

In 2024, SCCM partnered with the Phoenix Area Indian Health Service (IHS) to provide education and resources to those who serve the Native American community. SCCM held an onsite Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) training course for 30 healthcare professionals at Phoenix Indian Medical Center (PIMC) January 17-18, 2024. SCCM provided IHS staff access to several in-person pre-Congress courses and offered free Congress registration to any staff who wanted to attend. SCCM also provided IHS staff in the region the opportunity to take up to two SCCM online courses within the year following the 2024 Critical Care Congress.
 
In 2023, SCCM partnered with Project Homeless Connect and the San Francisco Ambassadors, two groups that work with people who are unhoused. SCCM supported Project Homeless Connect’s Community Day of Service, which provided essential healthcare services delivered with care and dignity to people who are unhoused. Additionally, SCCM provided free Stop the Bleed training for the staff from these two organizations.
 
In 2020 and 2019, SCCM worked with local organizations to hold free public health events that provided CPR training and other lifesaving education.