Future Congress Dates

The 2027 Critical Care Congress will be held Sunday, March 14, through Tuesday, March 16, 2027, at San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, USA.
 
Pre-Congress educational programming will be held Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13, 2027.

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

Dates for the Critical Care Congress changed from January or February to March or April starting in 2026. The change in dates allows 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 was 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

During the 2025 Critical Care Congress, SCCM hosted the free Acute Care Geriatric Sensitivity Training course, training over 40 participants on caring for an aging patient population. Attendees studied case-based scenarios and engaged in hands-on learning activities designed to simulate the physical and emotional experiences of geriatric patients. Using aging simulation tools and having interactive discussions, participants gained deeper empathy and insight into the challenges older adults face in acute care settings.

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.