OBJECTIVES: It has been shown in literatures that full-time intensivists improve the quality of patient care and reduce medical resource utilization. The study compares the quality of care in Respiratory Care Center (RCC) staffed by full-time intensivists (no outpatient clinics), part-time responsible chest physicians (with duties in outpatient, inpatient, and RCC) and full-time responsible chest physicians (with at most 3 half-day outpatient clinics per week besides WCC) and predicts risk factors for mortality and weaning rates in RCC patients. METHODS: Retrospective data were collected and analyzed from all RCC patients in a medical center cared for by full-time intensivists from 2004 to 2005, part-time responsible chest physicians from 2008 to 2009, and full-time responsible chest physicians from 2011 to 2012 to determine whether there were differences in the quality of care and predict risk factors for mortality and weaning in RCC patients.  RESULTS: There were 2,757 patients in the study with an average age of 69 years, APACHE II scores of 16.68, mortality of 23.90%, weaning rates of 50.68% and complication rate of 40.74%. Patients cared for by the full-time intensivists had a shorter RCC and ventilator days, lower expenses and RCC transfer rates (p <0.001), and higher weaning and complication rates (p <0.05) than those cared for by the part-time and full-time responsible chest physicians. Risk factors for mortality variables including APACHE II, transfer to the ICU, RCC length of stays, and albumin level. APACHE II, types of physicians staffed, transfer to the ICU, RCC length of stays, and Creatinine were the risk factors affecting weaning rates in the RCC patients.   CONCLUSIONS: There were differences in the overall use of healthcare resources and weaning rates among the patients cared for by full-time intensivitsts, part-time responsible chest physicians, and full-time responsible chest physicians but no difference in adjusting mortality.