CHANDIUGARH,*18.07.2026* The centre is dedicated entirely to mothers and their newly born babies. After the inauguration, the *Honourable Health Minister and the Health Secretary had visited the building* . The Director of PGIMER, the Deputy Director (Administration), the faculty members of the Departments of Gynecology and Neonatology and other important functionaries in PGIMER had shown the esteemed visitors some of the important parts of the new building.
The *very next morning, i.e., on 18th July, the doctors, nurses and supporting staff of the two main user departments — Neonatology and Gynecology — got to work and shifted the first batch of patients from their respective beds in the current wards in the Nehru hospital building of PGIMER to the postnatal ward in the newly inaugurated centre.* These patients comprised of clinically stable mother-baby pairs. Since patients are being shifted to a completely new facility, the overarching concern of the doctors is to ensure patient safety during transport and during their stay in the new building. *The plan was to shift the most stable patients first and then gradually shift other patients in increasing order of seriousness.
*Ten patients were shifted by a dedicated ambulance on the morning of 18th July 2026, including 5 mothers and 5 babies.* The doctors and nurses had already conducted dry runs of the shifting process, and a standard operating procedure was already in place. *A team of doctors and nurses shifted the mother-baby pairs from their current ward to the ambulance, another team accompanied the patients in the ambulance, and a third team shifted the patients from the drop-off location in the porch of the new centre to the postnatal ward.* The shifting process of the first batch took place today without any hiccups.
*The mothers and their families were delighted to move to the new centre, and they were visibly impressed by the spaciousness, the facilities, the hospital privacy curtains, the “nurse call system”, and the spotlessly clean wards.* The patients were seamlessly transferred in the hospital computer system and their diet and medical care continued without interruption. On a light-hearted note, some of the mothers joked that they did not want to get discharged from this new ward with its huge glass windows and excellent views of the greenery in the PGI campus.
*The first patients to be shifted were Mrs Amandeep Kainth and her baby. She was very happy to occupy a unique place in a new centre that had just been inaugurated by the Prime Minister a day before. It also happened to be Amandeep’s birthday, so the doctors and nurses organised an impromptu birthday party for her in which all the staff and other patients also joined in.* *The Neonatology Unit gifted a set of clothes to each of the first five babies that were transferred to the centre.*
*All in all, it was a good and safe beginning to the new mother and newborn centre that promises to provide advanced healthcare to mothers and newborn babies in the region.* Children beyond the newborn period would continue to be cared for in the existing Advanced Pediatric Centre.