Chandigarh, Nov 5 — Terming it as a historic Diwali gift, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Balbir Singh, on Thursday announced that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has fulfilled another major promise by issuing the Letter of Intent (LoI) for establishing a state-of-the-art Medical College and Teaching Hospital at Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar.
Balbir Singh said the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) has issued the award to Indus Super Speciality Healthcare Private Ltd under the Public-Private Partnership (Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer - DBFOT) model.
Minister Balbir Singh said the project involved an investment of approximately Rs 160 crore, under which the existing 150-bed District Hospital at Nawanshahr will be substantially upgraded into a full-fledged, National Medical Commission (NMC)-compliant 220-bed teaching hospital along with dedicated academic and residential infrastructure.
The complex will also house an advanced 30-bed Super-Specialty Cardiac Care Unit equipped with interventional cardiology facilities, including a Catheterisation Laboratory (Cath Lab) for angiography and angioplasty.
“Though the formal timeline allows up to three years, since the hospital building, dialysis centre, and critical care block already exist on site, construction for the medical college building will begin next month, and we expect the medical college to be operational within just a year-and-a-half,” Balbir Singh said.
The Punjab Health Minister said out of the 50 annual MBBS seats, 50 per cent will be strictly reserved under the state government quota, enabling bright local youth to pursue medical education affordably close to home.
Highlighting the benefits for the region, Balbir Singh said this milestone project would prove to be a lifeline for residents of Nawanshahr, Balachaur, Ropar, Garhshankar, Banga, Machhiwara towns, and surrounding belts across a 35 to 40 km radius.
“Earlier, patients suffering acute heart attacks had to be rushed all the way to PGI in Chandigarh, or distant referral centres in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, or Amritsar, often losing precious lives on the way. Now, world-class emergency and cardiac treatment will be accessible right at their doorstep within the critical ‘golden hour’,” Balbir Singh added.