A centralized patient monitoring system includes a central station which receives patient information from bedside monitors. The patient information is presented on a video display screen and may include patient demographic information, physiological parameters and a waveform. The display screen is divided into sectors, with each sector containing information for one patient. When an alarm condition occurs at one of the bedside monitors, the alarm condition is transmitted to the central station and is displayed in the corresponding sector of the video display screen. In addition, the alarm condition is highlighted by changing the background in the alarming sector from its normal color, typically black, to a neutral color such as blue, which is easily distinguishable from the normal color and which does not obscure the patient information being displayed. The background of the sector is changed back to the normal color when the alarm is acknowledged by a user. The highlighted background is easily visible from a distance and provides a clear indication of unacknowledged alarms without obscuring other patient information.